Genevieve
by ebau12
Summary: POSTPONED. Genevieve is a forgotten child of two racers. Okay, I really suck at summaries, just give it a chance.
1. One

She looked out the window lazily until she watched her mother's car pull into the driveway. When the she got out of the car and slammed the door; she could tell she was upset over something. She watched her mom enter the house and turned her head toward her own bedroom door when she heard the front door slam shut. She jumped away from the window and flew to her door when there were heavy footsteps on the stairs. Her mom was reaching for the doorknob of her own bedroom and stopped when she noticed two brown eyes watching her.

"What are you doing here, Gen? I thought you were at the shop with Mia." Gen shook her head toward her mom and her mom pushed the bedroom door open. Gen stepped out of her room and into her parents' bedroom. It smelled funny, but instead of saying something, she just covered her nose with her sleeve. She watched as her mom went to the closet, threw the door open, pulled out a duffel bag and started filling it.

"Mom?" Gen's voice cracked. Her mom looked at her with sad eyes. "What are you doing?" Her mom looked back down and Gen shook her head. "Take me with you." Her mom looked up at her and shook her head.

"I can't."

"Why?"

"You should probably stay with your dad and your aunt." She sighed. "It's probably for the best." Gen looked down and shook her head, letting a tear fall off her chin. Her mom sighed and looked up at her daughter. She felt bad for even wanting to leave her daughter behind, but she thought it was for the best. It had to be. Her mom zipped her bag closed and looked up at Gen. "Gen, don't do this. I can't take you with me."

"Why?" Her mom sighed and looked at her with a glaring look. "Mom?"

"Go in your room, get the biggest bag you have and fill it with as much clothes as you can. If you have any room left, grab anything that means anything special to you. Hurry up or I'll have to leave you here." Gen nodded then almost flew to her room.

The telephone rang. Gen stared at it for a minute then picked it up, but her mom beat her to it. Usually if her mom knows she'd picked up the phone, she'd tell her to hang it up so she can have her privacy with whoever is on the phone. Her mom must not have heard because nothing was said.

"What do you want, Dominic?" She'd never heard her mom call her dad by his full name. She usually called him Dom, or Baby. It was usually his sister, Mia, who called him Dominic. Especially when he was doing something wrong or something he shouldn't have been doing.

"Where are you? You said you'd be here at 4 and it's after 4. Why are you at home? What's wrong?" She chuckled and Gen pushed the phone closer to her ear. "Letty."

"Dominic, it's over." A little laugh could be found in her voice, like she found it humorous. Gen got confused very quickly, as did her dad.

"What? Why?"

"Dom, I was there at 1:45, I saw you." Gen swallowed hard when her dad was quiet. "Right. Like I said, it's over."

"Letty, don't you leave."

"Why not? I'm tired of it."

"Tired of what?"

"I'm tired of coming home or going to the garage and finding you with some other girl. I'm sick of it." That was one thing Gen had never heard her mom do and still hadn't heard her mom do and that was raising her voice. Her mom was usually fairly calm, unless her dad had done something wrong, but she'd always made sure Gen wasn't around when that happened.

"Fine, leave. See if I care." Her mom chuckled and hung up the phone. Gen stayed on the line because she didn't want to let go. "I'm so sorry Gen."

"What?" Gen asked. "How…"

"I heard you pick up the phone."

"Oh." She replied at the end of a breath.

"Are you going with your mom?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Gen felt bad almost instantly with her dads answer. Gen sighed and opened her mouth but was cut off. "Well, I'll see you… maybe."

"Yeah…"

"Bye."

"Bye." A few seconds later she heard the dial tone. She sighed and set the phone back on the receiver. She stood up and went to the closet, opening the door quickly. She reached for her biggest bag and started shoving clothes into it. She emptied her closet then moved to her dresser. She emptied the top drawer, and then started on the second drawer, selecting a few shirts to shove in the bag. Then she emptied the final drawer completely in her bag.

"You ready?" Her mom asked from the door. Gen reached for everything on top of her dresser and in one swipe of her arm, it all fell into her bag. She set the bag on her bed briefly and grabbed her favorite stuffed animal and set it on top, then zipped the bag closed. She looked at her mom and nodded. "Let's go." Gen nodded then started out of the room behind her mom. She stopped and looked around the room for a brief moment.

She followed her mom to her car and slid into the passenger's seat quietly, tossing her bag into the backseat along with her moms bag. Gen slid down in her seat and reached for her seat belt. She buckled it then crossed her arms over her chest. She looked over at her mom, who was putting the key into the ignition with a shaky hand.

"You okay?" Gen asked. She looked over at her and nodded then looked back out the windshield. She started the car then without a second passing she pulled out of the driveway, not taking a second look at the house she'd lived in for so many years. She didn't want to hurt any more, so she refused to look back. Gen watched the scenery go by as her mom sped off into the opposite direction of the house, the shop, and the garage.

After about an hour of driving, an hour of awkward silences and motions, Gen decided to speak up and say something to end the silence.

"Where we going, Mom?" Gen asked quietly. Letty looked over at her and sighed heavily. Even she didn't know, she was just driving. "I mean…"

"Gen, I don't know." She was cut off rudely. Gen was quiet, figuring it would be best, until her mom pulled into a driveway. She looked over at her and bit her bottom lip.

"Where are we?" She asked, even quieter that before.

"You're going to have to stay here for a while."

"What?" She asked quickly. "No."

"Gen, you have to. I need to find a place for us to live and I can't do that if you're with me."

"Why?" Right now Gen wasn't worried about holding back the tears that were threatening to spill. She knew it was wrong, but she wanted her mom to feel bad and to feel guilty about leaving her behind.

"Gen, just do this for me, okay? I need you to do this."

"Fine!" Gen screamed opening her door. She grabbed her bag from the backseat and slammed the car door closed. Her mom just watched her walk to the door and knock. Gen wiped her eyes and shook her head, not looking back at the car. The door opened and a lady about her mom's age smiled at Gen, but she couldn't smile back.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

"My mom doesn't want me anymore." She cried. Gen pushed passed the woman and walked into the other room dropping the bag on the sofa, where there was a girl, younger than her.

"Why are you crying?"

"My mom doesn't want me anymore." Gen wiped a sad tear from her left eye and the other girl frowned.

"Mine either." Gen frowned and sat next to the girl.

Letty looked out her window as her sister approached slowly. She crouched down in front of the window and looked at her younger sister.

"I left Dom." Letty said shakily. Her sister nodded. "I actually did it, Chris."

"You're gonna go back to him, aren't you?" Letty shook her head and gripped the steering wheel. "You said that last time, and the time before that."

"I'm not going back. I'm sick of his shit. I don't want him anymore." Chris nodded and Letty looked into her blue eyes. Blue eyes she'd gotten from her father.

"How long do you need me to watch Gen for you? A week?" Letty nodded and moved her hands on the steering wheel, looking straight ahead again. "I'll watch her, I'll keep her safe, and out of trouble the best I can." Letty nodded and sighed heavily.

"I hate doing this, but I have to." She looked back at her sister. "I hope she'll forgive me."

"She's ten, right?" Letty nodded. "She'll forgive you. She's young; she'll get over it. Once your back, she'll give you a big hug and she'll pretend like none of this happened." Letty nodded and sighed.

"I should go." Chris nodded and looked back to the house. "Chris, I'm really sorry about ditching her with you. I just can't have her with me at all times right now. I might need to do something she shouldn't see."

"I understand you completely. No worries Let. I'll take care of her." Letty nodded and Chris stood. Letty re-started her car and took one last look at her sister before pulling out of the driveway. She took a left out of the driveway and began her drive back to Los Angeles, where she would have to have a long talk with Dom.


	2. Two

Gen ran as fast as she could up the alley, away from the people who were chasing her. She stopped and searched for her cousin, Juli, who was about twenty feet behind her. She waited for her cousin to pass her then followed behind her. She saw a perfect hiding place, grabbed her cousin and pulled her to the hiding spot. They were both panting hard and Gen looked out the foggy window and watched as the two men in police uniforms ran by, as if still chasing them. Gen let out a long sigh then looked back at her cousin. Juli shoved her into the wall and smacked her.

"Are you crazy?" Juli asked loudly.

"Shut up." Gen said through clenched teeth, in a low growl. She stepped back to the window and looked out, they were gone, but it couldn't be completely safe yet. "You said you needed money."

"Not that kind of money."

"You said you needed money."

"Like I said, not that kind of money." Gen rolled her eyes and started looking for another way out of the place that smelled like grease and rubber. She found a door and tried to open it, it was locked. She looked around for another exit and found an office. She walked into it and looked around. There was a desk with a cushioned chair behind it and a sofa against the opposing wall. The room smelled bad, like two people had spent the day in there having sex. She covered her nose with her sleeve. She walked do the desk and tried the middle drawer, which opened easily.

"What are you doing?" Juli asked as she walked into the room. Gen looked up quickly and ready to fight. She sighed and went back to the drawer. "Gen, what are you doing?"

"I'm looking for a key, alright?" Juli nodded a little and looked around the room. She saw a framed picture on the wall and walked to it, examining in carefully. The woman, smiling brightly looked vaguely familiar. She just couldn't place the face. Juli cocked her head to the side, hoping it would help her think, but it didn't. She shrugged and looked back to her cousin, who was rummaging through the drawers.

"Find a key yet?"

"No." She replied, still looking. Juli nodded then sat down on the sofa, feeling something squishy under her. She stood up quickly then felt her butt and looked at the sofa. There was a rubber thing with a white substance inside. She rolled her eyes and immediately wanted to shower.

"Gross!"

"What?" Gen asked looking up.

"These people are freaking nasty!" Gen looked at her like she was stupid. "There's a used condom on the couch. It's got stuff in it." Gen made a disgusted face then pulled a metal box out of the bottom left drawer. It opened easily, considering there was no lock on it. She pulled out a pile of papers and some pictures fell. She picked up a picture. "Why can't we just go back out that same door? Do you really think they'd still be out there?"

"You'd never know." Gen said examining the picture. Juli noticed this and started toward her. Gen stuffed the picture and the papers back into the box, stumbling across some keys. She closed the box then shoved it back into the bottom of the drawer. She walked to the door and tried the only silver key. The door opened easily. She grinned at her cousin and her cousin rolled her eyes then stiffened when there was a large man blocking the door. Gen looked and ducked before his fist hit her. She tackled him like she was playing football and he was down on the ground in an instant. "Run!" Gen shouted to her cousin.

"Come on." Juli shouted back, grabbing her arm and helping her up. Gen took one last look at the person before taking off full speed toward her house. She looked back to find her cousin a few feet behind her and didn't slow down. She was worried that the muscular man was behind them and she couldn't see him. Where the hell did he come from? Did she trip some kind of silent alarm?

After about ten minutes of straight running they finally reached their house, panting heavily. Gen looked at her watch, it was almost 2 in the morning. She cracked her neck and started toward her bedroom window. Juli followed and opened the window. She jumped when a hand grabbed her wrist, thinking it was her aunt Chris. She looked up and sighed when she saw her other cousin Eva.

"Where have you guys been?" She asked helping her cousins in the window and sitting them down on her bed. They were trying to catch their breaths. "It's okay. Chris is out of it, she's high again." Gen sighed and looked over at Juli who was heaving.

"You okay?" She nodded and started patting her pockets. "Shit, you lost your inhaler." She nodded the best she could and Gen started searching the room for one of her other ones. "Shit. Shit. Shit."

"Gen, calm down."

"My cousin's going to die because of me."

"Gen, she'll be fine. She just needs to calm down." Gen found her other inhaler and raced to her side, putting it in her hand, watching her take a hit off of it. Juli took a few breaths and looked around, then hit Gen upside the head. Gen frowned and looked down at the floor.

"I'll go get a bottle of water." Gen stood and exited the room, leaving her younger cousins alone. She walked into the kitchen and flipped on the light to find her aunt sitting at the kitchen table with her head down. Her head popped up when the light came on and she looked around the kitchen with her head moving from side to side.

"Where have you been?" She asked, sounding like she was drunk.

"Nowhere." She replied, knowing her aunt wouldn't ask any more questions, especially if she hadn't told her where she'd been. "Come on, you should be in bed." Gen moved toward the table then pulled on her elbow gently. Chris stood and Gen put Chris' arm around her neck and her arm around her aunts waist. She started toward her room and they staggered a bit. It was really hard to move her aunt when she was like this, but it wasn't the first time she'd had to do it.

It took her about twenty minutes to get her aunt into bed. She pulled off her shoes and put her in her nightclothes, then tucked her under her covers. Gen sighed at the situation as she started toward the room she shared with her two younger cousins. Juli who was fifteen and Eva who was thirteen. She loved them like they were her sisters, and she never wanted anything to happen to them.

"Are you going to bed?" Eva asked from her bed. Gen nodded and flopped down on the twin mattress on the floor in the corner. She pulled a sheet over her and sighed heavily. "Night Gen."

"Night Eva." She looked over at her other cousin. "Night Juli." Juli was already asleep.

-- -- -- -- --

The next morning there was an eerie silence, as the girls got ready for school. Their Aunt Chris staggered into the kitchen with sunglasses on, demanding coffee, which Gen had already prepared and slid a cup to her as she sat down.

"Morning Chris." Gen said quietly taking a sip of her orange juice. Eva wanted coffee but Gen wouldn't give it to her, giving her a lecture about how she could get addicted and how it could stunt her growth. Eva was thirteen and only stood at five foot, at least five inches shorter than either of her cousins and her aunt.

"It's going on seven, we should get out of here." Juli said patting her pocket, which held her inhaler. Gen sighed heavily and nodded a little. Eva stood up and grabbed an apple out of the bowl in the middle of the table. She took a bite out of it then headed for the front door, grabbing her bag off the floor.

"Bye Chris." Gen said kissing her cheek then heading for the front door. Gen stopped when she heard a faint crying. Eva and Juli looked at her and she sighed. "Go ahead, I'll catch up." Gen set her bag back down and watched her cousins leave the house. She headed up the stairs and entered the room where the crying was coming from. She walked over to the crib and picked up the crying baby, cradling it in her arms. She walked over and set it on the padded table where there was a blanket spread out. Chris entered the room and Gen looked up at her as she pulled the crying baby's pants off.

"I'll take her, you should get to school." Gen took off the diaper then reached for a clean one. The one she had just taken off was soaked, which was probably why the child was crying. She fastened the clean one then walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer, pulling out a new outfit. She walked over and quickly changed the baby girl, who had stopped crying so loudly but was still fussy. Gen knew she was hungry. "I got her." Gen nodded and picked her up then stepped toward her aunt. She handed her over to her aunt and kissed them both on their foreheads.

"Bye sweetheart, I'll see you when I get home from school." She said sleepily to the baby. She looked up at Chris and nodded her head. "Get her bottle. She's hungry."

"I got it, Gen, she'll be okay." Gen nodded and exited the room and jogged down the stairs. She picked up her bag and put it over her shoulder and walked out the door, pulling it closed. She looked to the sidewalk in front of the house and Eva and Juli were still waiting. Gen smiled and joined them.

"We had to wait. We didn't want you to miss school again."

"Nah." The walk to school was quiet, but they were giggling and laughing about really random things such as people they all knew. "So, we'll meet here after school." Eva and Juli nodded their heads and Gen smiled. "See you two later."

"Later." Eva and Juli said together. Gen started toward the school building, where she figured she'd go ahead and go to class. She didn't feel like putting up with anybody's bullshit this morning. She walked through the front door and immediately felt arms around her waist and kisses on her neck. She turned her head quickly and sighed to see it was some sleaze. She shoved him away and continued up the hall, but he followed. They entered an empty hallway and he pushed her into a set of lockers and she winced when she felt a lock digging into her back.

"What's up baby?" He asked rubbing her side.

"I know you better get away from me." Gen said quietly, careful not to raise her voice, knowing what he was capable of doing and what she was capable if doing.

"Relax. I just wanted to know how Sara is doing and to see what's up with you." Gen raised en eyebrow.

"Larry, since when do you care about me or about Sara?"

"I've always cared about you, Genevieve. I've cared about Sara since she was born."

"Bullshit." She scoffed. He pounded his fist into the locker just beside her head causing her to jump a little.

"Is everything okay here?" A friend of Gen's asked as he spotted the two.

"Yeah, everything is fine." Gen looked at Larry and raised an eyebrow. "Right?"

"Yeah." He stepped away from Gen and pulled up his sagging pants even though they fell again. Gen stepped toward her friend, who put an arm around her shoulder.

"Come on, Mark." Gen said putting her arms around her friend's waist and pulling him toward their first period class, which they shared. They walked into their class, which was empty and sat in the back row beside each other.

"What was going on? You know, when I found you."

"Oh, he was just being a jerk. You know how he is." Mark nodded and I smiled. He scooted closer and rubbed her leg softly.

"How's Sara?"

"She's good." Gen nodded. "I almost stayed home today but my aunt insisted that she'd take care of her. I feel I can trust my aunt." Mark nodded and smiled. Gen nodded and folded her hands on the table in front of her. It wasn't hard to tell that the two of them were attracted to each other. Mark loved Gen's personality, her ability to kick any man's ass, which he's seen her do. Gen loved his smarts and his sweet personality. But they were friends, wanting to be more, but they were both sort of scared about it, not wanting to ruin their friendship. She looked up into his eyes and nodded. She loved how he actually cared about her and her family.

"Gen?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you doing this weekend?" She cocked her head to the side. "Well, if you don't have any plans, I was wondering if you'd like to go see a movie or something." Gen smiled a little and felt her face getting hot. "You can say no or if you have plans or something."

"Mark." She said putting a hand over his. "I'd love to." He smiled and nodded a little.

"Great." She nodded and smiled at him.


	3. Three

Gen adjusted the bag on her shoulder and leaned against the tree where she said she'd meet her cousins after school. She watched all the people exit the building and didn't see either of her cousins. She cracked her neck quietly and looked around behind her. She saw Eva coming up behind her and turned completely to watch her.

"Hey." Eva said as she reached her. She looked around for Juli and frowned when she realized she wasn't there. "Where's Juli?" Gen shrugged and turned back to the school just in time to see her come out of the school with the schools bitch. Gen set her bag down by the tree and started for her cousin.

"Gen." Juli started but was rudely cut off when the bitch grabbed the back of her neck and caused her to lean forward.

"This doesn't concern you, Gen." Gen raised an eyebrow and looked between her cousin and the bitch.

"I believe that if it concerns my cousin, it concerns me, Kate." The bitch nodded and grinned, throwing Juli forward, causing her to fall into the bike rack. "I don't want to fight you." Gen said as Kate was putting up her fists. "I just want you to leave my little cousin alone."

"Why? You scared?" Gen shook her head and the other girl rolled her eyes.

"Gen don't do this. It's not worth it." Juli said standing up and rubbing the back of her neck where the older girl was holding her.

"I'm not scared of you. I'm not scared of anybody." Gen started. "I have no reason to be. I can defend myself."

"Then fight me. If you beat me, I'll leave you and your cousins alone." Gen raised an eyebrow and raised her fists lazily, knowing she wouldn't use them. "Oh, you wanna bang?"

"Sure. Why not?" Gen replied sarcastically. After a second, Kate flew at Gen, but Gen just simply moved to the side and smacked the back of Kate's neck as she flew by. Gen turned to look at the other girl and kept her eyes open.

"You think your cool." Kate said before flying at her again, which made Gen do the same thing. Kate growled and stepped closer to her, raising her hand to Gen's face, but Gen blocked it easily and shoved her arm away.

"I told you I didn't want to fight you."

"You're not even fighting."

"You can't even hit me." Gen said loudly. She looked up just as the male Phys. Ed. Teacher came running over.

"Ladies, is everything okay here?"

"Everything's fine." Kate stated, fear washing over her. She didn't need to get into trouble, but Gen didn't care if she did.

"No, sir, this bitch is trying to kick my ass, but she's a little troubled. She can't even hit me." The teacher looked between the two of them and Kate looked at Gen with pleading eyes. "But, like I said, she couldn't hit me, so I had no chance to hit her."

"Um." The teacher was speechless. "Well, you two should get along home." They both nodded and he walked away. Gen looked over at Kate and Kate glared, but Gen noticed the little smile on her lips.

"Are we through here?" Gen asked.

"Yeah." She said nodding. "We're through." Gen nodded then turned back to the tree and Juli followed, looking over at Kate a few times.

"Let's go home." Gen said putting an arm around Eva's shoulders. "Chris is probably wondering why we're late." Juli and Eva nodded and the three of them started up the street. Gen was the only one to notice that a dark purple colored car kept driving by and slowing as they passed the girls.

"What's up?" Juli asked Gen when she noticed she was looking around. Gen shook her head and they started to walk a little faster. Gen stopped when she reached the sidewalk in front of her house, when the car drove by again. Juli and Eva stopped and looked at her.

"Gen?" Eva asked.

"Go on inside. I'll be inside in a minute." They both nodded, knowing she'd be okay by herself. Gen watched Eva and Juli walk into the house and close the door behind them. She set her bag down on the sidewalk and walked into the street. She saw the car round the corner then took a deep breath and held out her hand. The car stopped about two inches from her and he leaned over and put her hands on the hood of the car.

"Get off my car." A woman said out the driver side window.

"Why are you following me?" Gen demanded. The driver revved the engine but it didn't faze her.

"What makes you think I'm following you?"

"You've passed me five times in the past five minutes. I'm not stupid." The engine revved again and Gen rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to see you." Gen pounded her fists on the hood of the car and ignored the pain. "What did you want to hear?"

"Nothing." Gen stepped away from the car and toward the sidewalk.

"Gen, come on." The driver's door opened and Gen looked over her shoulder with a glare.

"What? You want me to welcome you back in my life, with open arms."

"No."

"Okay. Enough said."

"Gen!"

"Fuck you!" Gen shouted to the woman. She picked up her bag and headed for the front door. She pushed it open then slammed it closed.

Gen stormed to her room, slamming her door loudly, causing her cousins to jump. She didn't care, she just flopped down on her bed throwing her face in her pillow and screaming as loud as she could, which was muffled, but still loud. Juli got up first and approached her bed slowly.

"Gen?" She asked quietly.

"Go. Away." Gen warned through the pillow. Juli nodded and walked back over to her bed and went back to her homework.

After about twenty minutes of complete silence, there was a knock on the door. Eva and Juli both looked at it as it opened. Chris looked over at Gen and cocked her head to the side.

"We don't know." Juli filled her in. "We think she's asleep now." Chris nodded and looked over at Eva.

"Dinner." She stated clearly. Eva nodded and set her books to the side and climbed off her bed. She walked toward then passed her aunt, who looked back at Gen. "Gen." Gen didn't move. "Genevieve."

"What?" She asked, still not moving.

"Everything okay?" Chris asked.

"I'm fine." She said with a sigh. Chris nodded and exited the room silently, closing the door behind her. Juli stood up and walked over to Gen's bed and leaned against it gently.

"Gen?" Juli asked.

"What?" Gen whimpered. Juli faked a smile and sat on the edge of Gen's bed. Gen felt the weight change on the bed and looked up at her over her arms, which she'd folded her face into.

"What's wrong?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"I mean, what's wrong with me." Gen looked up at Juli with questioning eyes. "Why is Kate always messing with me and why are guys always being mean to me. Especially Larry. I can't stand him."

"Larry's a jerk." Gen stated quietly. Juli nodded and looked at her cousin for more information.

"What about Kate?" Gen shrugged her shoulders a little then started to sit up.

"Kate probably messes with you because she's afraid to mess with me. She probably knows you mean a lot to me and the last thing I want to see somebody do is mess with you. So, obviously, if she messes with you, I'd stand up to her."

"Why doesn't she like you? You're so easy to get along with."

"I'm not this nice to everybody else, especially people at school. The only people I'm nice to are you, Eva, Chris, Sara and…"

"And who?"

"Mark." Juli giggled and pointed her index finger at Gen's nose.

"You like him, don't you?" Gen laughed and shook her head.

"We're friends."

"So?"

"Friends don't like each other. Not like your thinking." Juli made a sarcastic face at Gen and she laughed. "Our friendship is complicated. But we're just friends." Juli nodded and wrapped her arms around herself.

"So, you wanna hang out this weekend? Go to the movies and see that new movie you've been dying to see?" Gen chuckled a little and rubbed the back of her neck, looking down at her lap. "What?"

"I've got plans." Juli arched an eyebrow. "Mark and I are going to the movies."

"Like a date?" Gen shook her head. Juli gave another sarcastic look and then Gen shrugged. "Aww."

"Shut up." Gen said smacking Juli upside the head with a pillow. "I've never even gone out with a guy, not like that." She looked at Juli and sighed. "Not even with Larry. It was just that one night and that was it. But, you know about that." Juli nodded and started looking around the room.

"Are you sure it's not a date?" Gen shrugged and Juli shook her head.

"I could ask."

"You don't ask a guy if it's a date. It's a rule, you should already know." Gen raised an eyebrow and Juli shrugged. "Okay, maybe you should ask him."

"No, I don't want to look stupid."

"Well, then just ask him about it. Like, tomorrow morning just ask him all the details." Gen nodded a little.

"Great, I've resulted in taking advice on dates from my little cousin." They both laughed and Juli hit Gen with the same pillow.

They laughed constantly for ten minutes until there was a knock on their bedroom door, and then it opened. Chris again.

"Dinner's done." They both nodded and smiled. "Feeling better, Gen?" Gen nodded and Chris smiled. "That's good. There's a boy on the phone for you." Gen looked over at Juli and smiled a little. "Keep it short." Gen nodded and pushed herself off her bed. She walked into the kitchen where Eva was trying to feed the always-fussing Sara. Gen chuckled, picked up the cordless, and headed to the basement, where she could be alone.

"Hello?" She asked when she was safely behind the basement door.

"Hey baby." She sighed.

"What do you want, Larry?"

"I told you earlier I wanted to know what was up with you and Sara. Fill me in. I am her dad."

"And I'm her mom. You took advantage of me and you're lucky I didn't call the police on you. Leave me alone." She hit the end button then started back up the stairs. She pushed open the door and sighed heavily as she entered the kitchen, putting the phone back on the charger.

"Who was it?" Chris asked from the table. Gen shook her head and sat down at the table between Sara's highchair and Eva's empty chair. Eva was busy walking around the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner.

"I know you don't like burgers, Gen, so I made you a chicken salad." Eva said putting a bowl in front of her along with a bottle of Italian dressing and a fork. Gen smiled and looked up at her cousin.

"Thanks." Eva nodded and smiled. She stepped away and walked back to the counter picking up two more plates and set them down in front of her aunt and Juli. Double stacked, double cheese'd burgers with a side of deep fried fries. Juli licked her lips and stared at her burger with a smile.

"This is good, Eva." Chris said taking a bite of her burger. Eva smiled then sat down beside Gen with her plate. Gen stood up and walked over to the fridge and pulled out a can of Pepsi. She looked at the table and Chris motioned for one so she got her one too. She walked back to the table and set it in front of her.

"That's so not healthy to drink." Juli said nodding toward Gen's Pepsi.

"Said the one with the dead cow in her mouth." Juli rolled her eyes and stuck a meaty tongue out at Gen. Gen made a disgusted face and Juli laughed.

"Juliette!" Juli winced at the use of her entire first name, especially when Chris used it.

"Sorry." She apologized quickly. Gen and Eva giggled and Chris glared at them.

"Sorry." They both said at the same time.


	4. Four

Gen took a seat at the kitchen table and looked around the empty kitchen. It had an eerie sort of feel to it. She couldn't recall a time, recently, where the kitchen had been so empty, unless it was around midnight.

Gen looked up as Chris staggered into the kitchen, wiping her mouth. She walked to the fridge and grabbed an unopened bottle of water. Twisting the lid off, she sat down in the chair beside Gen.

"How do you feel?" Chris asked Gen then took a quick drink and winced.

"I feel fine. Why?" Gen questioned.

"Them burgers messed me up. Eva and Juli are fighting over the toilet. I gave one of them a bucket and a towel so that might settle them down. I told them I get dominance over the upstairs bathroom." Gen chuckled and shook her head. "So, that chicken must have been done."

"Must have been." Gen looked around the kitchen. "Do you need me to stay home today? I will if you need."

"No, no, no. You go to school. Juli told me about that dude your crushing." Gen shook her head. "Oh, come on. Is he cute?" Gen chuckled and shrugged a little. "Just cute in your own eyes, huh?" Gen nodded a little. "That's all that's important, babe. As long as he's not a jerk and he's nice to you."

"He's nice." Chris stood up and pinched Gen's cheek affectionately. "He's a sweetheart."

"Bring him around some time, kay?" Gen nodded and Chris grinned. "You should get out of here, you don't want to be late."

-- -- -- -- --

Gen adjusted the bag on her shoulder as she walked to her first class. She cast her eyes downward when she saw Mark standing beside the opened door talking to Kate. Gen let her eyes wander to meet his for an instant as she entered the room. She sat down in her usual seat and sighed heavily, looking at the board for a list of today's assignments. She watched, without looking up, Mark take a seat next to Kate as they entered the room.

"I can't this weekend, I've got plans." Mark whispered quietly to Kate. Gen looked up, being ready to look down if either one of them turns quickly.

"Can't you cancel?"

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"She's a good friend of mine."

"Who?"

"Gen."

"Gen Rodriguez. That skank?" Kate's voice was hushed and it was quiet between the two of them for a moment. Gen looked down and leaned down, pretending to go threw her bag. She pulled out her headphones and put them over her head. "She's got a baby, did you know that?"

"Yes." Mark replied softly. He turned in his seat and looked at Gen, who was nodding her head to the imaginary music in her headphones. Mark turned back around and looked at Kate. "She's not a skank. She's really nice."

"I hate her."

"Why?"

"Long and complicated story. Just know that I hate her." Gen looked up just as Mark nodded. "So, are you sure you can't cancel? This party is going to be out of control. Alcohol." Gen grinned when she realized why Kate was trying so hard to get him to get to go to the party. Maybe she liked him but he didn't feel the same way about her. She chuckled out loud and Mark and Kate both turned around in their seats to look at her.

"What?" She questioned shrugging her shoulders slightly. They both turned around and looked at each other.

"She's weird." Kate leaned over and whispered. Mark nodded.

"I'm gonna go back there and sit with her. Sorry, I can't make it to the party. Maybe next time." Kate nodded and frowned a little. Mark stood and shoved her shoulder playfully, in attempts to make her smile, which worked. He turned and walked back to Gen and smiled at her, sitting down. "What's up?" Gen pulled off her headphones and started wrapping them up.

"Nothing." Mark nodded and smiled at her again.

"So, who are you working with on that art project? He said you needed to get with a partner." Gen sighed and shrugged. "You're the only person in that class I know, I thought I'd ask you."

"You and my cousins are the only people I know in there. They're working with their friends, wanna work with me?"

"Yeah." He nodded and they both chuckled. "So, do you get this stuff?" He asked motioning to the board. She nodded and smiled. "Care to explain it to me? I don't really understand it all."

"What are you doing tonight?" He gave her a funny look and smiled a little. 'Here goes nothing' Gen thought to herself. "Thought maybe you'd want to come over. I could help you out with this stuff and we could work on that art project." She looked down at her hands, which were setting on her lap.

"Okay." He said with a nod.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't joke about that." Gen felt herself blushing and tried to cover it up, but failed. He smiled and they both looked up as the teacher walked into the class.

-- -- -- -- --

Gen adjusted the bag on her shoulder and she looked out the doors of the school. It was pouring down rain, she didn't have a car to drive or an umbrella to hold over her head. She looked to her left as a teacher put up their umbrella and pushed out the door. She sighed heavily and looked around the empty halls. She'd been standing there for about fifteen minutes, watching people force themselves out into the weather. She pushed the door open and walked into the rain, not running, but walking at a normal pace. She suddenly didn't care if she was soaked, she'd just be able to change into dry, comfy clothes when she gets home. Then Mark would be coming over around 4 so they could work. She already knew that if Chris was in a good mood, she'd invite him to stay for dinner. If he was hungry, he'd stay.

She was about a quarter of the way home before she even realized she was. She heard a car honk from behind her, but she ignored it and kept walking. The car pulled up along side her, but she refused to look. The driver honked again and Gen finally turned and looked. She was already soaked.

"Get in." The driver shouted through the open passengers window. Gen looked through the window to see Mark grinning at her.

"I'll walk."

"Get in, Gen."

"I'll get your car wet."

"It'll dry." Gen stepped toward the car and he reached over and opened the door for her, helping her in. "Didn't you know it was going to rain today?" She looked over at him with an evil glare. He chuckled nervously and looked at her dripping, slightly curly hair. He reached into the backseat and turned back around with a navy blue towel.

"Okay, who carries towels in their backseats?"

"I think it's from the last time I took my sister to the beach." Mark pulled away from the curb and drove slowly down the street.

"You have a sister?"

"Four."

"Wow."

"Yeah." He chuckled.

"How old are they?" She questioned, wanting to start a conversation so it wasn't completely quiet.

"Let's see." Gen wrapped the towel around her shoulders and squeezed the ends of her hair with it, so it wouldn't drip anymore. "Jessica is ten, Lisa is twelve, Kelly is fifteen, and Leslie is twenty."

"Ouch." He nodded and they both chuckled.

"Have any brothers or sisters?"

"Nah." He looked over at Gen and she sighed. "Well, I might, I wouldn't really know. I haven't seen either my mom or dad since I was ten."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Gen shrugged her shoulders and looked out the window, watching the rain form puddles along the curb. "Actually, I thought Eva and Juli were your sisters, you three look so much alike."

"Nah, they're my cousins. Juli is my aunt Trina's daughter and she's fifteen. Eva is my uncle Rob's daughter, they died in a car accident a little over a year ago, when Eva was twelve."

"Do you know anything about your mom?" Gen shook her head. "Sorry about that." Gen looked back over at the window with a sigh. She watched as Mark turned onto her street and she was ready to show him where she lived.

"Right there." She said pointing to a small white house. "You can pull in the driveway if you want. My aunt doesn't have a car." He nodded and pulled into the driveway. "Yeah, we're kind of poor." She chuckled.

"No problem with that." He said. "Can I come in, or do you want me to go home then come back?"

"Come on in. But as a warning, my cousins and aunt were home sick today so it might be a mess. Forgive me for that."

"Like that's really a problem." They both chuckled and got out of the car. Gen jogged to the safe, dry shelter of the porch. Mark followed and she moved to open the screen door, but his hand beat her to it, opening the door and holding it for her. She nodded to him and he smiled as she fumbled for her keys. Gen stopped and looked at the doorknob when the door unlocked. She looked up at the figure before her as the door opened.

"Chris was getting worried about you." Gen smiled when she studied long enough to realize it was Eva. When the door was unlocking and opening without her, so many terrible memories came flooding back to her mind. "Hello."

"Hey." Mark said with a smile.

"Come on in." Eva said to Mark, who followed Gen into the house. His eyes immediately fell on the couple making out on the sofa. Gen quirked an eyebrow and looked over at Eva. Eva shook her head and shrugged. "He's been here about an hour. They've been there for about fifty minutes. _Kissing._ Every now and then they'll break apart and she'll ask if you're home yet." Eva locked the door behind her and wiped her hands on the back of her pants.

"I can't believe this." Eva shrugged and started for their room. "Come on." Gen said motioning for Mark to follow her. She followed Eva into her room and Mark stood in the door, looking around. "How long has she been asleep?"

"All day. She was the one running from the bed to the toilet last night." Gen stifled a laugh and walked over to Juli's bed. She sat on the edge of it and pressed a palm to her forehead. It was warm and clammy. Gen cringed and wiped her hand on her left hip. Juli stirred in her sleep and rolled onto her back, opening her eyes to Gen.

"Hey sweetheart." Gen said softly. Juli scoffed and looked over at the door and sighed heavily when she spotted Mark. "What?" Gen looked over at Mark then back at Juli. "What?" She repeated.

"I'm wearing a bra."

"And?" Juli chuckled, hiding her anger, and sat up, covering her chest with her arm.

"Hello Mark. What are you doing here?"

"Hello. Gen invited me over to work on a project."

"Oh, a project." Juli curled her index and middle finger along with the word project. Gen glared at her and smacked her upside the head in a playful way. Juli laughed and looked at Mark. "It's cool that you're here. Might keep Gen calm now that Johnny's back."

"Doubt it." Gen said standing up and then walked over to her bed. She grabbed a box with handles and pressed it against her belly for support. She walked over and handed the box to Mark and he took it, having less trouble with the weight than Gen did. Gen walked to her dresser and pulled out some dry and more comfortable clothes. She pulled out a pair of gray sweatpants and a white wife beater. She walked over to Mark and pushed her way out of the door. "I'll be right back." He nodded and looked over to Juli and Eva, who were smiling at him.

"So…" Eva said quietly with a small sigh.

"Buttons." Mark replied quietly. Juli chuckled and reached for her shirt, which she pulled over her head quickly and smoothed down over her flat tummy. Mark flashed her a smile and she smiled back. "Who's Johnny?"

"Hmm?" Juli questioned studying a black spot on her shirt.

"You said that I might keep Gen calm now that Johnny's back. I was just curious as to who Johnny was." Juli's mouth opened, but closed it quickly as Gen entered the room again. She put her clothes over the back of a chair so they could dry a little before throwing them in the laundry hamper.

"We'll be downstairs." Gen stated picking up a white walkie-talkie type thing off the nightstand by her bed. She held it up and showed it to her cousins and the nodded a little.

"She was crying like crazy earlier." Eva said sitting down on her bed. "We couldn't get her to stop. We tried a bottle, a diaper change, and just holding her."

"She probably wanted her mom." Juli said stepping into the conversation. "So Chris took her and layed down with her and she stopped crying. She hasn't cried since. We think she's asleep. Well, not Chris."

"Yeah, Chris is making out on the sofa." Juli shook her head. "We'll be downstairs." They both nodded then Gen stopped when she heard crying through the white thing in her hand. She sighed and looked at Mark. Gen pushed passed him and headed for the stairs. Mark watched her jog up the stairs and looked back at Juli and Eva.

"You _do_ know she has a daughter, right?" Mark nodded and started for the stairs. He froze when he saw the two people making out on the sofa headed toward him and the stairs. The woman had to have been Chris, the guy he wasn't sure of who he was.

"Who are you?" He barked at him. The woman hiccupped, was she drunk?

"Mark." He stated calmly. The man nodded and looked at the stairs.

"What are you doing in my house?"

"You mean my aunt's house?" Gen said from the top of the stairs. Everybody's attention went to the teenager at the top of the stairs with a baby on her hip. The baby was tugging on a fistful of her hair, which was long and curled slightly. "You mean mine and my cousin's house. Because last time I checked, you didn't live here and you didn't pay the bills."

"I'm here now, ain't I?" He snapped loudly at her, making the baby look at him with sad eyes. "Whose kid?"

"Don't worry about it." Gen snapped back. The baby gurgled and looked back up at the teenager holding her, her mom. Then her eyes caught Mark and stared at him. Mark looked at her and smiled, making her smile gleefully. Mark chuckled a little and everybody looked at him. Gen started down the stairs, pushing passed the man and woman. "I'll be downstairs with Mark. We're working on a project and I'm helping him with his math."

"Yep." Chris acknowledged before heading up the stairs with the guy. Gen sighed and looked at Mark.

"Come on." She said motioning for him to follow. She shook her head at what just happened and led him down the stairs to the basement, where Gen went to get away from everything she'd needed to get away from.


	5. Five

"Okay, so if it opens down, a is…"

"Negative. And if it opens up, a is positive." Gen smiled and nodded. "If it opens up, it has a maximum."

"Beep!" Gen said loudly.

"Crap. It has a minimum. That's going to kill me on the test."

"Think about it this way. If it opens up, the bottom is where? Near the bottom, meaning it has a minimum, because it's smaller." Mark nodded and Gen smiled. "Does that make more sense?"

"A little."

"You have to get this down. You can't fail this test. You need an A." Gen stated. Mark nodded and chuckled a little.

"My mom will kick my ass if I fail another test." Gen raised an eyebrow and looked into his eyes. "Literally." Gen frowned a little. "I've failed every test since school started."

"Why? Don't you study?" Mark shrugged a little and Gen sighed.

"It doesn't matter. I freeze up when it comes to tests."

"You need to take care of that. That can't be good, do you get bad grades because of the tests?" Mark shrugged a little.

"Can we not talk about my grades?" Gen nodded silently. Gen leaned back on the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. "Something on your mind?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Do you think I'm a hoe?" Mark looked over at her and shook his head. "I mean, because I have a kid, you don't think I'm hoe?"

"No, of course I don't. People do make mistakes. I'm not saying you think that your daughter is a mistake, but how you made her was a mistake, maybe." Gen nodded her head once and sighed again. "But I don't think you're a hoe, no way."

"Okay."

"You don't want me to think of you as one, do you?" Gen shook her head and he nodded a little. "Who's her dad?" He asked nodding to Sara who was asleep on her playpen. Gen looked over at her and sighed heavily.

"I don't know."

"Hmm?"

"I don't know." She looked back over at him and shrugged her shoulders. "It was a crazy time and a lot was going on."

"I've heard around school that you had a kid with Larry Stevens." Gen sighed again and Mark frowned. "I can't stand him."

"Me either." Gen agreed with him totally there. "We were at a party, the first party I'd ever gone to, the first time I ever drank. I had a little too much and fell asleep on a bed upstairs. He was on top of me when I woke up." Mark frowned. "I shoved him off and smacked him and left. I haven't had a drink or been to a party since."

"Well, that's responsible." She nodded. "So, if that's what happened, why don't you know who her dad is?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." Mark nodded and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Can I ask you a question now?" Mark nodded. "May I ask why you were talking to Kate this morning? I mean, I'm just curious."

"She's friends with my sister, which makes us friends. She wanted me to go to a party this weekend." He paused. "I think she likes me." Gen chuckled. She knew she did. "I don't like her even as a friend. She's a bitch to everybody." Gen nodded.

"I know somebody else who likes you?" He raised an eyebrow. "She goes to our school. She's in our math class."

"Really? Who?" Gen shrugged and smiled. "That girl with the uni-brow?" She laughed out loud and leaned forward on the sofa. "Oh, I think she's hot." Gen laughed harder and looked up at him from where she was. "I'm kidding. Who?" Gen shrugged again. "I think it's a given that Kate likes me." He put his index finger on his chin and scratched, making Gen think he was thinking about the rest of the girls in their class. "I know you're not talking about Christine. She's too hot to like me."

"I don't like her." Mark shrugged.

"Well, it's not you. So, who's left? Geri? Mae? Jaci?" Mark stopped when he noticed Gen was smiling. "Did I say her name?" Gen nodded. "Jaci?" Gen shook her head. "Mae?" Gen shook her head again. He cocked his head to the side and looked into her eyes. "You." Gen nodded a little and swallowed hard. He sat up and looked at his hands, so his eyes weren't on her. Gen leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest and frowned, trying to hide it. He seemed disappointed.

"Gen!" Juli shouted down the stairs. "Dinner's ready." She started down the stairs and stopped when they were in view. "We're having spaghetti and I made it, do you want to stay for dinner?" Mark looked over into Gen's sad eyes and frowned a little. "You're welcome to."

"Nah, I should get home. My mom might be wondering where I am." Juli nodded and watched him gather his things. He stopped and looked at Gen, who was looking at her hands, which were in her lap. "I'll see you tomorrow, Gen." Gen nodded a little and he started toward Juli.

"You know how to get out, right?" Mark nodded and Juli smiled. Juli watched Mark go up the stairs and she started over toward Gen. She stopped when Gen held up a hand and stood slowly. "What's wrong?"

"He knows." Gen said sadly and started for the stairs. Juli frowned and watched Gen slink up the stairs. Juli walked over to Sara's playpen and picked her up and rested her on her hip. Sara put her head down on Juli's chest and she sighed when she felt slobber sliding down her chest as she started up the stairs.

She walked into the living room and layed Sara in her other playpen and she fell back to sleep quickly and she pushed her way into the kitchen. Gen was still missing from the table, leaving three empty chairs.

"Mark had to go home. I don't think Gen's hungry. I'm not very hungry now either." Chris and Johnny both nodded and Juli looked at Eva.

"Me either." Eva set down her paper towel and followed Juli out of the kitchen. They walked to their room, but turned around quickly when Gen came out of her room headed toward the kitchen. Chris and Johnny both looked up as she entered the kitchen.

"Is he staying?" Gen asked toward Chris.

"Of course I'm staying." He said loudly to her.

"I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to my aunt." She said louder.

"Um. I guess he is." She replied. Gen nodded then turned on her heel and headed back to her room, followed closely by Juli and Eva. Gen walked over to her dresser, opened the bottom drawer and started emptying it into a large duffle bag, and worked her way up the drawers.

"Gen?" Eva asked quietly. Gen didn't look up, just continued to shove things into her bag. Chris entered the room but Gen still didn't look up.

"You leaving?" Gen looked up and nodded. "Tonight?" Gen nodded again. "Gen, stay the night. I promise I'll take you wherever you want to go in the morning. Just stay the night. It's rainy and I don't want you two out there alone at night."

"Promise?" Gen questioned her aunt. Chris nodded and so did Gen. "I'll stay, just tonight. If you won't take me in the morning, I'm walking." Chris nodded and looked at the three of them.

"Can I still eat dinner, I'm starving." Chris nodded and looked at Juli and Gen, who shook their heads.

"You sure?" Eva stepped passed Chris and Chris sighed when they both nodded their heads. "How about a bring you two a plate, you can eat in here."

"We're fine." Juli said speaking for the two of them. Chris nodded and stepped out of the room, pulling the door closed behind her. Juli looked at Gen, who took a seat on the edge of her bed. "What's up with you Gen? Why you leaving?"

"I don't want to stay here with Johnny."

"Where are you going to go?" Gen shrugged her shoulders and Juli frowned. Gen watched as Juli stood up and walked to her bed. She crouched down and pulled a box out from under her bed and opened it. She pulled out a roll of money and stood up, then walked back to her cousin. Gen gave Juli a funny look when she pushed it toward her.

"I can't take that." Gen started.

"Take it." Gen shook her head and Juli pushed it closer. "Gen, take it. I'd feel bad if I didn't help you out in some way."

"I'd feel guilty if I took the money you saved up for you to get away. Keep it."

"You helped me get it. Take it Gen."

"No." Gen stated firmly. Juli sighed and dropped her hand with the money. She put the money in her pocket and Gen shook her head. "I can't take your money." Juli nodded again.

"Okay. Can you at least tell me where you're going?"

"I'm going home."

"Home?" Juli questioned. "You are home." Gen bit her lip and nodded a little. "And it has been, for seven years. You belong here."

"No, I don't."

"Tell me then Gen, where do you belong?"

"I belong with my parents." Juli chuckled halfheartedly and shook her head. "Why do you have to be like that, Juli?"

"Why not? Your mom left you, just like my mom left me." Juli sighed when she realized she was being a little harsh. "I'm sorry." Gen shook her head and looked up at her. "Why do you hate Johnny so much? It's not like he ever hit us. He just yelled at us sometimes when he's drunk, but he makes Chris happy."

"You wouldn't understand Juli."

"He hit you?" She questioned. Gen shook her head. "What did he do?" Gen was quiet for a while, but Juli wanted an answer. "Gen?" Gen looked up at her with sad eyes. "What did he do to you?"

"Juli."

"Gen! Tell me what he did to you!" Her voice was getting loud.

"Juli."

"Genevieve Rodriguez!" She shouted. Her voice dropped. "What happened?"

"He raped me." Juli dropped on the bed beside Gen and they were both sitting there, wide mouthed. "Juli, I swear to God, if you tell anybody."

"I… I won't." Gen nodded and looked around the room, fighting tears that were threatening to spill.

"When?" She questioned.

"About nine months before Sara was born."

"Johnny's her dad?" Gen chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. "Or Larry?"

"I'm not sure, it was the same night." Juli's lip quivered as she tried to hide her frown. The door burst open and Eva walked in. They both jumped and looked at Eva with wide eyes.

"What?" She questioned as she closed the door. Juli and Gen both shook their heads. "Oh. I'm going to lay down."

"I've got homework to do." Gen said sliding back on her bed. Juli stood up and walked over to her own bed and flopped down on it, putting her face in her pillow. Gen opened her math notebook and flipped to the page that her and Mark was working on less than 30 minutes ago. She came across Mark's paper and sighed heavily, having both Juli and Eva look over at her. She crumbled up the paper and tossed it into the trash.

"You okay?"

"Fine." Gen affirmed.

-- -- -- -- --

Gen woke the next morning with a pounding in her head. She knew why it was there, but she refused to let anybody else know, not even Juli, who already knew one of her deepest secrets. This secret, only she would know. She was just confused as to how a late night bathroom run could end up the way it did, with her lying on the floor, crying.

She pushed her covers back and stretched her arms over her head, yawning loudly. Juli and Eva were already out of bed and the room was vacated. She pulled on her pants, bringing them back up to her hips and exited the room.

Johnny, Chris, Juli, and Eva were around the table, Juli and Eva stuffing themselves with cereal and finishing up any homework they hadn't finished. Gen walked to the fridge and pulled out a gallon of orange juice, poured herself a glass, then leaned against the counter, folding one arm under the one she was drinking with. She tried to avoid her aunt's eyes at any cost, along with Johnny's. She didn't even want to see him. She was happy to leave.

"Gen?" Chris asked and Gen, forgetting about the eye thing, looked up at her. "What happened to your eye?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your eye, it's swollen." Gen made a funny face and walked a little mirror that was on the wall on the opposite side of the kitchen. Her eye was, in fact, swollen and bruised. "Now you know what I mean, where did it come from?"

"It must be from where I ran into the bathroom door last night. I didn't know the door was closed because the light wasn't on." Johnny was looking at her and she glared at him, but carefully so Chris didn't notice, and she didn't.

"You should put something on that." Chris stated and looked over at Johnny and reached for his lit cigarette. Chris didn't usually smoke, just when Johnny as around.

"I've got something out in my truck that you could put on that."

"No thanks." Gen said quickly.

"Yeah, Gen, you should get something on that, go with Johnny out to his truck." Gen sighed when he stood up, but followed him to the door. Gen put her arms over her chest and sighed heavily as she stepped out the door and walked to his truck. She gasped loudly when she was pushed into the side of his truck and he was in her face.

"Get off of me." Gen said calmly.

"Don't you dare tell Chris what happened."

"Don't worry, I don't want her to think less of you." She replied sarcastically. "Chill out, I won't tell her and I haven't told anybody so relax."

"Who does that little girl you were holding yesterday belong to?" He asked. Gen raised an eyebrow. "You know who I'm talking about, is she yours?" Gen shrugged and he pressed her shoulders into the passenger window of his truck and she winced.

"She's my daughter, take a freaking chill pill man." Johnny rolled his eyes and pressed harder into her shoulders. She took a deep breath and winced harder. "And if you ever touch her…"

"I wouldn't. She's too young." It took Gen a minute to realize what he was saying.

"And I swear to God if you even look at Juli or Eva or do anything to them, Chris will find me standing over a dead you. I'm not fucking around either."

"I'm scared." He said sarcastically putting his hands up. Gen rolled her eyes and glared at him. "You wouldn't do shit."

"If you touch them, in any way, I'll go to the police with my kid."

"What's your kid got to do with anything?" He questioned.

"She's your kid." His jaw clenched.

"Prove it."

"Okay. She's got blue eyes. And in case you haven't checked, my eyes are brown and so are the guys who I thought was her dad. You're the one with the blue eyes." He swallowed hard. "You know, while your at it, you should just leave Chris. Maybe she'll finally be able to be really happy when you leave."

"I'm not going anywhere, kid." He said ruffling her hair.

"I'm not a kid. I've seventeen and believe me, I'm more mature than you are." He clenched his jaw harder and took a deep breath. "So, leave." With that, she shoved him away and he landed in the grass behind him. She looked back with one last glare then entered the house.


	6. Six

Gen looked out of the window at the large white house. It looked empty, but there was a car parked in the driveway, so she was sure there was somebody home. She looked over at Chris and she tried her best to give her niece a comforting smile.

"You sure you want to do this?" Gen nodded and Chris smiled a little. "Go knock on the door and make sure somebody's here, leave your stuff here." Gen nodded a little and opened the door, but left it open when she started up the sidewalk. "Take your time, I've got all day." Chris turned off the engine, but left the keys in the ignition.

"Breathe." Gen willed herself as she tried to take a deep breath. She reached the door, and then took a glance back at her aunt sitting in Johnny's truck. She reached up and knocked on the door, taking a deep breath. The door opened and she took a step back, when she saw a muscular man.

"Who are you?"

"I'm looking for Dominic Toretto." He raised an eyebrow then stepped back into the house.

"Yo, Dom." He shouted.

"I'm a little busy!" Another man shouted back. The man in the door looked back at Gen and raised an eyebrow, ready to close the door. "Who is it?"

"Some kid." All was quiet and Gen sighed heavily then started to turn back to the truck, when the guy in the door stopped her. "Wait. He said wait." Gen stopped and turned back toward the guy and stopped there. "Who are you?" She shrugged.

"A kid?" A different guy asked from the stairs, looking out the front door. He looked at Gen and nodded a little. "Gen?" Gen nodded a little. "What are you doing here?"

"I asked mom for the address." She stepped closer. "I can't stay with my aunt any more, I was hoping I could maybe stay here for a while."

"Sure." He said without any hesitation.

"That was easy." He nodded.

"I've got plenty of room. Where's your stuff?"

"In the truck." She said pointing her thumb toward the Chris and the truck. He pulled the shirt he had in his hand over his head and started up the sidewalk. "There's something I should tell you first." He stopped and looked at her. "I have a kid." He kept looking at her and nodded a little.

"Does your mom know?" Gen shook her head and he nodded. "He or she is just as welcome in my house as you are." Gen smiled and nodded. Chris got out of the truck and started toward the bed and let down the back gate. "Chris." He said with a nod.

"Dom." She nodded back.

"This everything?" Chris and Gen both nodded. "I'd like to see my grandkid." Gen nodded and grabbed his arm, leading him to the front of the truck, where the door was still open. She reached in and pulled out the carrier she was in and held it up to her dad. "Aww. She's adorable."

"Yeah."

"What's her name?" Chris looked at Gen and Dom and smiled to herself, leaning against the truck.

"Sara." He nodded and smiled.

"Does she have a crib and everything she needs?" Gen nodded and he smiled. "That's good." Chris chuckled a little and smiled as Dom pulled Gen into his arms and hugged her. "God, I haven't seen you in seven years." Gen nodded a little. "I swear if your mom told me where you were, I would have come."

"She didn't tell you where I was?"

"No." He said shaking his head.

"She called me a week after she left me with Chris and said you'd be there the next day to get me. All these years, I thought you forgot about me."

"I never forgot about you. Never. Just like I'll never forget my other daughter." Gen's face fell. "Or my son, but it'd be hard to forget about him because I see him and your mom every Monday. She never told me that she said that to you."

"I have a sister and a brother?" Gen asked.

"Your sister is eighteen and your brother is seven."

"Ohh." She nodded a little and Dom looked up at Chris.

-- -- -- -- --

Juli and Eva sat down at their table and looked around the quickly filling room. They both looked toward the window when Mark walked in the room. Then the teacher followed him in the room.

"Okay, class. Today we're getting new seats." The whole class sighed and Eva and Juli flared their noses at each other. The bell rang and the teacher quickly took attendance and started at Juli and Eva's table. "Eva, who are you working with on your project?"

"Juli." The teacher nodded and pointed for Juli to sit beside Eva. Juli stood and sat in the chair beside Eva.

"Who sits here?" The teacher asked pointed to the seat across from Juli. Juli looked at Eva then around the room.

"Gen does." Eva said quietly.

"Ah. Genevieve. Is she absent today? She never misses school." Juli nodded and looked around. "Now, who's working with Genevieve?"

"I am." Mark said raising his hand a little.

"Over here, Mr. Evans." The teacher pointed to an empty seat and he stood, grabbing his books, then sat down across from Juli and Eva. "Next table." He said moving on to the next table.

"Hey." Mark said to them quietly. "Sorry about last night. I would've stayed for dinner but I didn't even go home after school and I didn't want my mom to worry about me."

"It's cool." Juli said looking down at the table.

"Juli and Gen didn't even eat last night." Eva butted in.

"Where is she today?"

"She moved out." Mark made a funny face. "She went to stay with somebody else." Mark nodded a little and kept the face active. "We don't know who with or where or even if she's coming back to this school."

"Oh." He replied quietly. "I was going to have one of you two give her a note for me. But, I guess you can't do that now, can you?"

"I'm sure she'd call. Tell me what you want to say."

"It's kind of personal." Juli nodded and looked around the room. The teacher was on to the third table and looked as if he'd be taking a while.

"Write it and I'll take it over after school."

"I thought you didn't know where she was."

"I have a pretty good idea." Mark nodded and pulled a piece of paper out of his Algebra book and pulled out a pencil. He started scribbling at a fast pace, trying his best to hide it from Juli and Eva, who were trying to read over his arm.

"Do you mind?" He questioned, quirking his eyebrows at them. They both giggled and looked over at each other. "Shut up." He growled at them, which only made them giggle harder.

-- -- -- -- --

"You two want a ride home?" Mark asked from the driver's side of his car, pulling along side of Juli and Eva, who were almost halfway home. "I finished that note, would you mind still giving it to her?"

"Sure." Juli leaned in the passenger's window and grabbed the folded paper from him. He smiled and took a deep breath. "You still wanna give us a ride?" He nodded and smiled. Mark opened the door and moved what was on the seat aside. "I appreciate it." Juli scooted in beside Mark and Eva slid in beside her.

"It's not a problem."

"You're only giving me this ride so I give this note to my cousin, right?"

"That's not true." He said looking over at her. "You two were walking and I'm headed that way so I offered." Juli nodded and looked at the white piece of paper in her left hand. "Don't read that."

"Why not? It just looks so readable." Mark glared at her. "Chill, I won't. I'm not quite that mean." He chuckled in relief and she smiled. "Do you think that if I can get the address of where my aunt Chris dropped Gen off at this morning, you could take me over there? I'd give you money for gas and I'll walk home."

"I don't mind taking you. Just you?" Juli looked over at Eva then nodded. "Yeah, I don't mind." He said turning onto their street. Juli started laughing randomly and Mark and Eva both looked at her like she was stupid. "What is your problem?"

"I was just trying to figure out how you knew where we lived then I remembered that you took Gen home yesterday. Now I feel stupid." Mark shook his head then pulled along the curb, because there was now a truck in the driveway. "Great. Johnny's still here." Juli looked over at Mark and smiled a little. "I'll be right back."

"I'll wait." Juli nodded and followed Eva out of the car. Mark watched them walk up the sidewalk and into the opened front door. Mark looked around the street and sighed heavily, waiting. He reached for his cell phone, which was sitting in his empty ashtray, and pressed seven digits, then pressed it to his ear.

"Hello?" An older woman asked.

"Mom. I just wanted to call and tell you I'm going to be home later than usual tonight."

"Are you in trouble again?"

"No, ma'am."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm hanging out with a friend. I'll be home by nine."

"Make it eight."

"Yes ma'am."

"I'll see you later. Bye." The dial tone followed and he hit the end button and placed the phone back into the empty ashtray. He leaned back in his seat and looked at the roof of the car.

"Ready?" Juli asked leaning her head in the window. She opened the door and slid in beside him. "I got the address from my aunt Chris. Gen's with her dad." She looked over at Mark, who looked like he was in a daze. "You okay?" He nodded and looked over at her.

"I'm fine. What's the address?" She handed him over the piece of paper it was scribbled on and he read it carefully. "That's kind of far."

"I can walk." Juli said putting her hand on the door.

"I have to be home by eight, keep it short, please." Juli nodded a little and smiled at him for comfort. He handed her back the piece of paper and pulled away from the curb. "When do you have to be back?"

"Don't know." Juli said with a shrug of her shoulders. Mark nodded and looked at her then back at the road.

-- -- -- -- --

Mark pulled up along the curb in front of the white house, which had the same address as the house Gen's dad lived in. Juli looked at the house and cocked her head to the side, looking at it more carefully.

"It's nice."

"It's big." Juli nodded at his comment. "No, it's huge."

"But it's nice." Mark nodded and Juli opened the car door. "You want to come with me?" Mark shook his head and looked up at the house a little closer. "I'll give her this note for you." He nodded and smiled at her.

"Thank you." Juli nodded and slid out of the car, closing the door behind her. Mark watched her walk up to the door and sighed when a big older man opened the door.

"Oh great, does he have _another_ kid?" The man in the door asked as he opened the screen door for Juli.

"Huh?" Juli questioned.

"Oh, maybe not. Who are you?"

"Juli. Who are you?"

"Leon." Juli nodded a little and smiled. "Looking for Gen?" He nodded and turned on his heel. Juli watched as he walked up the stair and heard him knock on a door. Juli turned around and looked at Mark, who was leaning forward over the steering wheel. She turned back toward the door and jumped back, startled when she saw her cousin's face pressed against the screen.

"Did I scare you?" Juli smacked Gen's forehead through the screen and they both laughed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you _that_ bad." Gen looked at the car and spotted Mark then frowned a little. "What are you doing here? Miss me already?"

"I'm dying without you." Gen chuckled and pushed open the screen door when she noticed Juli's sarcasm. "Mark's in the car."

"Come in. I want you to see my room." Juli nodded and stepped into the house. Juli followed Gen up the stairs and to the last door at the end of the hall. Gen pushed open the door and leaned against the door as Juli walked in, looking mesmerized.

"Holy crap, it's huge. Were they expecting you?" Juli asked nodding toward all the wooden furniture she'd never seen before.

"They?"

"Your dad and his boyfriend." Gen raised an eyebrow.

"Boyfriend?"

"Yeah, the guy that answered the door." Gen dropped her eyebrow and chuckled loudly, shaking her head.

"My dad isn't gay. That was Leon, they're like really good friends. My dad said they've been close, friend-like, since another mutual friend, Vince, took off with my dad's sister. I guess they haven't talked since." Juli nodded and sat on the edge of Gen's new bed.

"This is so comfy." Gen nodded.

"I know."

"So, did they buy you all of this stuff?"

"And amazingly put it all together too." Juli nodded a little and looked over at Gen.

"So, this is the guy with the garage." Gen cocked her head to the side, confused. "The garage we hid in after _you_ stole that money and the police were chasing us?" Gen sighed and nodded a little.

"No. And I stole it for you, okay? You said you needed the money." Juli shook her head and stood up. "Give it back and I'll drop it off at their door tonight." Juli stepped closer to her cousin and reached into her pocket.

"I'm keeping it."

"Then quit you're bitching." Gen snapped. Juli crumbled up the paper she had in her pocket and tossed it in Gen's face, then exited the room quickly.

"Fuck you, Gen." She heard Juli mumble then storm down the stairs and out the front door. She sighed heavily then bent down to get the piece of paper when she heard the car door slam shut. She flattened out the wrinkles then flopped down on her stomach across her bed. She read it carefully then got up and exited her room.

"Gen? You okay?" Her dad asked as he ran into her going down the stairs.

"Yeah, I just need to use the phone."

"Um, use the one in the kitchen. Leon's at the garage and I'm going to take a shower." Gen nodded and finished down the stairs. She walked into the kitchen, picked up the phone and looked at the paper. She dialed the number that was written at the bottom and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Yes."


	7. Seven

Mark opened the passenger side door and held out his hand for Gen. She smiled and took it, the let him pulled her out of the seat. She closed the door behind her and looked at the house. It was bigger than her dad's house and her aunt's house combined.

"You've never been here, have you?" Mark asked quietly. She shook her head and kept looking at the house. "Most of the rooms are off limits, indicated by the locked doors. Most everybody stays in the foyer, the living room, and the kitchen."

"What if I get lost?" Gen asked in a worried, but slightly sarcastic tone. Mark chuckled and shook his head.

"Just stay with me. I'm assuming you don't want to drink tonight, right?" Gen nodded her head, still looking at the house. He shook his head and took her hand. "Then I wont drink either."

"No, no. If you want a drink, go ahead. Just remember that you have to drive me home and I have to be home by 12." Mark nodded and smiled, kissing her cheek softly. She smiled and looked at him as they started toward the house.

The music could be heard a few feet from the door, but when the door opened, it seemed so much louder. Kate stood there, with a large grin when she saw Mark, then it broke when she saw Gen.

"Glad you could make it Mark." Kate's eyes shifted to Gen and shook her head. "I don't believe _you_ were invited to my party."

"She's my date." Mark said without any hesitation. Gen looked at him then back at Kate with a smile, nodding.

"Oh." Kate sighed and pushed the door open for them to both come in. "Then come on in." Kate moved to the side as Gen and Mark stepped into the house. "All the upstairs rooms, except the bathrooms are off limits. Party's over at 11." They both nodded. "Let me get you two a drink."

"Okay." Mark said leading Gen toward the kitchen, following Kate. Kate walked behind the counter in the kitchen and poured two shots of something. Gen wasn't really paying attention to the bottle; she was paying more attention to the decorations on the kitchen wall and ceiling.

"Drink up, mates." Gen looked down at the drink and shook her head. "What's wrong? Scared?"

"No, I just don't drink." Gen said shaking her head. Kate chuckled and picked up the shot, drinking it herself along with Mark.

"You want another one?" Kate asked, waving the bottle at Mark. Mark nodded and she filled the two glasses again. Mark reached for the glass and Kate looked at Gen. "You sure you don't want this?"

"Yes." Gen replied, looking around the kitchen some more. Kate nodded and downed the shot at the same time as Mark.

"One more." Mark insisted. Kate nodded her head and smiled, pouring another two shots. Mark looked over at Gen and Gen looked across the counter at Kate, who was grinning at Mark. They took their shots and Gen didn't take her eyes off of Kate. Gen reached over the counter and grabbed the bottle, getting the attention of Kate and Mark both.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked as Gen put the bottle to her lips and started drinking. Mark put a hand on her shoulder but she still didn't stop drinking. Gen felt the burn in her chest sink low into her stomach and down to her toes. She slammed the empty bottle down on the counter and glared at Kate. Kate smiled and nodded.

"Back off." Gen said through her teeth to Kate. Kate nodded again and smiled. "Got it?"

"Sure, I got it. You want something else to drink?" Gen shook her head and burped loudly, catching the attention of everybody in the kitchen. She chuckled and put her arm around Mark's waist, who did the same to her. "Party good."

"We will." Gen said nodding at Kate then turning, making Mark follow her. Gen knew she was going to regret the choice she just made. She was already feeling dizzy. She looked up at Mark and shook her head a little. "What did I just drink?"

"Jim Beam." Gen nodded and pushed into Mark for support. "Come on." Mark said pulling her around and heading back into the kitchen. He leaned her against the doorframe and ordered her to stay and not to move as he headed back over to Kate. They were talking a few minutes and Kate handed him something silvery. Mark headed back to Gen and put his arm around her waist and she leaned into him again. "Your gonna regret drinking that soon. Come on."

"Where we going?" Gen asked quietly.

"Upstairs." She nodded a little, already feeling a little dizzy. It didn't take them long to get up the stairs and behind the locked door of a bedroom. Gen looked around the room and watched as Mark sat on the bed. "You might want to sit." Gen felt uneasy, but sat beside him quickly. "You wanna watch TV or something?"

"Sure." Gen said pushing herself back on the bed, leaning against the pillows and the headboard. Mark reached for the remote and looked at it for a minute, trying to figure out how to turn it on. Gen grabbed it out of his hand. "I rule remotes." Gen said hitting the red power button at the top and the TV turned on.

"Ha. Give me the remote."

"No." Gen said pulling it out of his reach. He chuckled and nodded. "Whose room is this anyway? Why'd we come up here?"

"Kate said it was her room, just in case I can't get you out of here later, she said stay the night." Gen shook her head. "She was just suggesting. Plus, your gonna be feeling that alcohol here soon, especially since you haven't drunk since… before your kid was born." Gen nodded.

"I have to be home by 12." He nodded. "So, this is Kate's room?" She got off the bed and started wandering around. "It's a lot bigger than my room. I should dig for some dirt." She opened a desk drawer and opened it. She pulled out a furry blue notebook and gasped, flashing it to Mark.

"Oh, put it back. What did she ever do to you?"

"She messes with Juli." Mark nodded and Gen flopped down across the bed. She glanced at Mark then flipped back the cover of the notebook. "Kathryn's journal. Keep out." She closed it quickly. "We'd better keep out Mark." Mark laughed and shook his head.

"You should." Gen shrugged and opened it again.

"Dear Diary. I have a crush on this boy in my math class. His name is Mark Evans. He's so cute." Gen looked up at Mark and chuckled. "She thinks you're so cute." She looked back down at the notebook and kept reading out loud. "But he told me that he doesn't like me, not like that, he likes that girl Genevieve Rodriguez. I can't stand her." Gen stopped reading out loud and sat up.

"Why'd you stop?" Mark asked, rubbing her back softly.

"You're right, I should stop." He nodded a little and she closed the notebook and stood. She walked back over to the desk and put the notebook back in the drawer. Gen sighed and sat on the edge of the bed next to Mark, still staring at the desk drawer.

"Is everything okay?" Mark asked, putting a hand on her lower back softly. She nodded and looked over at him with a small smile. He smiled back and rubbed her back, scooting a little closer. "You sure?"

"I'm fine." He nodded and looked into her eyes, getting another small smile from her.

"You know, you're beautiful when you smile." Gen felt herself blushing and she shifted her eyes downward, so he wasn't looking up into them. She could still feel him looking at her, so she looked back upward.

"Um. Thanks." He smiled and nodded a little. He scratched his neck with his index finger and Gen bit the inside of her bottom lip hard. She took a deep breath and realized suddenly how good he smelled. He took another small move toward her and she noticed how good he looked. "You look really nice tonight." She suddenly felt embarrassed for saying that.

"Um. Thank you." She nodded a little and looked down. "Are you nervous?" He whispered. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "Because your alone with me." She shrugged her shoulders a little. "I'm nervous."

"Why?" Gen asked with a little chuckle.

"Gen, you know earlier this week when you told me you liked me?" He asked. Gen nodded. She remembered like it was yesterday. She told him and he was dead quiet and left. "I was scared. I've only had one girl tell me she liked me." He exhaled. "And it was easy with her because I didn't like her back. You, I've liked you since I met you."

"Who was the other girl? Kate?" He nodded. "I've told a lot of guys I liked them, but they laughed in my face. I wasn't even going to tell you."

"I'm glad you did."

"Why?" Gen asked quietly, looking up into his eyes.

"Because I never would have told you."

"Why not?"

"The same reason you didn't want to tell me. I've had a lot of girls laugh in my face. One girl including Christine."

"Which is why you said she was too hot to like you." Gen said remembering a few of the things he said from the night she told him.

"I mean I'm fat and ugly. What sane girl likes me?" Gen frowned a little and looked down.

"I like you. I don't think your fat and I definitely don't think your ugly. I think you're cute. I was talking to my aunt one morning and she told me that it doesn't matter what people think, as long as you like him for him." He nodded a little.

"So, you weren't kidding when you said you liked me?" Gen layed down on her back, with her head near the footboard and shook her head. "You're feeling that alcohol now, huh?" Gen nodded and they both laughed a little. Mark moved and lied down beside her. They both looked up at the ceiling and stared. "So, are you happy with your dad now?"

"Yeah, I am." She looked over at him and smiled.

"Did you leave your aunt's house because of that guy Johnny?" Gen nodded her head and Mark looked over at her. "Who is he?"

"My aunt's boyfriend. He went to jail for sticking up a gas station. We were happy while he was gone. Things were better. A lot better." She shook her head and looked up at the ceiling, not being able to look at him. "He used to hit us around. You know, typical drunk, right?" Mark propped himself up on his elbows and looked at her. "One night, the same night I went to that party, the one with Larry and the drinking. He caught me sneaking in the back door. He threw me on the kitchen table." Gen stopped and exhaled heavily.

"What did he do, Gen?" He asked quietly.

"The same thing Larry did." Mark closed his eyes and fell back onto his back and rubbed his eyes. "I thought it would be so easy to forget that night, and I did, until I found out I was pregnant."

"Did you ever tell anybody about Johnny?"

"No." Gen replied quickly. "If he finds out, he'll hurt my aunt. My aunt means a lot to me. She basically raised me and I grew up with Juli, she's like my sister."

"You should tell somebody about that." Gen shook her head and looked at him. "Was that the only time?" Gen shook her head again. "How many times?"

"He only did it twice and only to me. If he did it to Eva or Juli, they'd tell me."

"When was the second time?" Gen swallowed hard and sighed. "Tell me, please."

"That night you were at my house." He sat up all the way.

"That was very recent." Gen nodded a little and frowned. "You need to go to the police." Gen shook her head. "Gen, you have to. Since you moved out, what if he starts doing it to Juli? You and Juli aren't talking, right?" Gen nodded once. "What if he does it to Juli? Do you think she'd tell you?"

"She'd tell me."

"Gen, you have to go to the police." Gen shook her head and rolled over so she wasn't facing him anymore. He moved closer to her and put a hand gently on her hip. He leaned in closer and kissed her cheek softly. "I'm sorry." He whispered quietly into her ear. She rolled back over so she was facing him and he frowned when he noticed tears in her eyes. He reached up with one hand and wiped them away. "Please don't cry, Gen. I'm really sorry."

"If I go to the police, will you go with me?"

"If you want me to, I'll go." Gen nodded and smiled, and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. He kissed her forehead and she smiled more. He kissed the tip of her nose and she looked into his eyes. She pushed herself upward and closer to him so her lips landed on his. They lingered there for a few seconds before she jolted back quickly.

"I'm sorry." She said quickly. He shook his head and smiled at her. He watched her yawn and struggle to keep her eyes open. He leaned forward and kissed her softly, and to his surprise, she kissed him back. She pulled back, not knowing what else to do. "Do you mind if we just lay here?"

"Not at all. Anything with you would be great." She smiled and gave a nod. "How about I set the alarm on my phone for 10:30, then we'll leave and I'll make sure I get you home on time." She kissed him again and nodded.

"I know this sounds bad, but you're not going to try anything?"

"No." He shook his head. She smiled and nodded.

"Good. Respect is good."

"Respect is very good." They both nodded and Mark watched Gen close her eyes. He smiled and kissed her forehead one last time before they both drifted off to sleep.


	8. Eight

Gen jumped up quickly when she heard knocking on the door. She looked around the room sleepily to realize that this wasn't her bedroom.

"Mark, come on man, get up." It was Kate on the other side of the door. "Mark, get up! My aunt's on her way home and if you're still here when she gets here, I'm going to be in so much trouble."

"Uh…" Gen said getting off the bed and looking down at herself. She was completely dressed and Mark was sound asleep on the bed that she had just rolled off of.

"Gen? I thought you left. Is Mark _still_ asleep?"

"Um, yeah. Hang on." Gen leaned over Mark and shook him gently. "Mark! Wake up!" She shook him a little harder and he grunted and rolled onto his stomach. Gen sighed loudly and started toward the door. She unlocked it and opened it so Kate could walk in. Kate flew to Mark and started shaking him furiously.

"MARK!" She shouted in his ear. "My aunt's…" She stopped. There was a door slam downstairs. "My aunt's home." Kate sighed and shook her head. "Shit." She muttered walking to the door.

"Kate! You here?" A woman's voice asked from down the stairs.

"Katie!" A little boy's voice asked. Kate sighed and shook her head. "Katie! Where are you?" She heard footsteps on the stairs and Kate flew to her closet and opened the door.

"I'm scared of the dark." Gen said sarcastically as Mark started toward the closet.

"Gen, your seventeen." Kate said rudely. Gen shrugged and looked at the dark closet. Mark stepped in and Kate pushed the door closed as a little boy walked in the room.

"Who's Gen?" He asked. He then looked up at Gen and smiled. "Hello."

"Tony, who are you talking to?" The woman asked as she entered the room. "Hello." The woman spoke toward Gen. Gen looked up at her and smiled. "I'm Kate's aunt, Jordan."

"I'm Gen." Jordan nodded and reached her hand over to shake Gen's hand. Gen smiled a little and shook her hand firmly.

"Kate, Tony and I are going out to lunch before Jack comes and gets him. Would you like to join us?" Kate shrugged her shoulders and little and looked at Gen. "Gen, if Kate doesn't mind, would you like to join us?"

"Oh, Kate would mind. We don't get along so well." She looked at Kate so their eyes met. "And I know why now." Kate swallowed and sighed. "We'll talk about it on Monday at school."

"Well, would you like me to give you a ride home?" Jordan asked.

"No thanks." Gen said walking to the closet. "My rides in here." Gen opened the door and Mark squeezed his eyes closed. "Thanks anyway." Jordan nodded and looked at Kate when Gen grabbed Mark's hand and led him out of the room. "Thanks for inviting us over, Kate."

"That was mean." Mark said pushing on her shoulder a little as they got to his car. Gen shrugged and smiled a little. "I'll take you home. I'll explain to your dad if you want." She shook her head and smiled a little. "You sure?"

"I'm sure. What about your parents? Want me to explain to them. That nothing happened and we just fell asleep."

"I've got it under control." He glanced at the clock on the dash and sighed heavily. "It's really late." He started the car and quickly pulled away from the curb. Gen took a deep breath when she watched a yellow light change to a red light without the car even slowing.

The entire ride to Gen's house was quiet and rushed. Mark knew he was in trouble and he figured the sooner he got Gen home, the sooner he got home himself. He pulled up in front of the Gen's house where there were three cars in the long driveway that led all the way to the garage. Gen looked over at Mark and smiled a little.

"Call me if everything is okay at home, okay?"

"Why would everything not be okay?" He snapped. Gen shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm just saying since you're in such a hurry to get home." He nodded a little. She leaned over and kissed him softly and frowned sadly when he didn't kiss her back. "I'll see you on Monday." He nodded a little and watched her get out of the car. "Bye." She said closing the door and walking up the lawn to the front door, where her dad met her. Gen turned back to the street and Mark was already gone. She frowned and entered the house after her dad pushed the door open.

"Where have you been?" He demanded.

"Calm down and I'll tell you?"

"Calm down?" He asked. "You promised to be home by 12pm. It's going on 11 in the morning. And you're asking me to calm down. Where have you been?"

"I went to a party last night."

"Did you drink?" He snapped. Gen glared at him and clenched her teeth.

"Yes." He shook his head and ran a hand over his face. "Would you let me talk?"

"Talk."

"I went to a party with Mark last night. We walked in and he did three shots and some other chick the same. Okay, I got jealous and I took the bottle and drank it." He sighed and sat down on the couch and looked up at her. "I started feeling dizzy so Mark took me upstairs."

"What did he do?" He stood and balled his fists.

"Nothing." Gen defended quickly. "We laid down and he set the alarm on his phone for 10:30 so he'd have me home by 11. Honestly, absolutely nothing happened."

"Did he kiss you?"

"I kissed him."

"Then something happened, Gen."

"I meant nothing sexual." He shook his head at her. "I can't believe you don't trust me. There's no reason you shouldn't trust me." He nodded a little and sighed. "But you don't, do you?"

"No, I believe you. I just don't trust him."

"He wouldn't do anything."

"I believe you, but I've never met him, so what am I supposed to think?"

"You're supposed to trust me. I'm your daughter."

"Gen, I trust you. I just don't trust him."

"Why?" Gen asked almost defensively. "He hasn't done anything to you for you not to trust him."

"Gen, he sat out in his car for ten minutes and waited for you last night. It made me think he was up to something. Why didn't he come in and wait. I'm not going to murder him." Gen shook her head. "Let me meet him."

"I don't know if that can be any time soon." He raised an eyebrow.

"Are you pregnant again?"

"What?" Gen asked quickly.

"Your not pregnant again, are you?" Gen shook her head slowly. She watched as he took a seat in a chair right in front of her. She sat down on the edge of the sofa and looked at him. "I didn't mean any offense."

"I think he's gonna get in a lot of trouble for last night. He seemed in a hurry this morning."

"Want me to call his parents and confirm that nothing happened?"

"I think he'll be okay." She was quiet for a minute. "I'll invited him over for dinner some night, okay?" Dom nodded and smiled a little.

"Gen, can I ask you something? I mean, without you getting all hussy."

"Hussy?"

"Mad." Gen nodded a little. "Who does Sara belong to?"

"Me."

"Who else?"

"Me." Dom chuckled a little and shook his head.

"Who's her father?" Gen frowned and shrugged her shoulders a little. He let out a sigh and she looked down at his shoes. They were white, which she found just a little odd. She shook her head and looked back up at him. "The day you came here, you had a black eye, who gave you that?"

"Oh, I ran into the bathroom door. Usually when somebody goes in there, they turn on the light. Well, that night somebody went in there, and didn't turn on the light." She glanced at Dom for a second and she could tell he wasn't buying it. "My aunt's boyfriend hit me." She watched the muscles in his arms tighten and she frowned a little.

"Why'd he hit you?" Gen shrugged. "Oh, there's a reason."

"I wouldn't shut up." He took a deep breath. "I did run into the bathroom door, but it's not where I got the bruise. After I ran into the door, it opened and Chris' boyfriend was standing there. He grabbed me by my hair and pushed me into the sink." She stopped and looked up at him. He knew, she didn't need to finish. He stood up and she quickly stood. "Where are you going?" She questioned with a worried tone.

"Sit tight. I'll be back in a minute." She watched him exit the house and get into his car. She heard it roar up the street and she sighed heavily and looked around the room. She started for the stairs but stopped suddenly when she saw the reflection of a woman in the mirror she'd passed. She whipped her head around quickly and looked the woman up and down, from her big black boots to her baggy pants, even to a baby in her arms.

"What are you doing here?" She asked quietly.

"Your dad asked me over this morning when he woke up and you weren't here. Your bed wasn't slept in and Leon said you never came home."

"Oh, so suddenly _your_ so worried about me?"

"Gen."

"No. Why don't you just leave?" Gen asked rudely, reaching for her daughter. The woman pulled her out of Gen's reached and Gen's eyes snapped up to the woman's.

"Talk to me."

"No." Gen said reaching for Sara again. "Give me my daughter."

"Talk to me."

"No." The woman holding Sara started to move away from Gen. "Whatever. Tell my dad I went out." Gen turned and walked out the front door and started walking back toward from the place she'd just come from. She knew it would be a long walk but right now she didn't mind so much. She needed to get away from the crazy woman who was standing in her living room.

-- -- -- -- --

Dom walked in the front door and looked around the living room. The woman was on the couch asleep, and Sara was asleep in a playpen in the corner of the room. Dom walked over and poked her shoulder with his index finger and she sat up quickly.

"Where's Gen?" He questioned as he started toward the kitchen.

"What time is it?" She asked standing up and starting toward the kitchen herself. She watched as he grabbed a beer out of the fridge. "Gen told me to tell you she went out, she'd be back… well, she didn't say that."

"You didn't ask?"

"Well, no." Dom raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged.

"You want a beer?" She shook her head and watched him sit down at the kitchen table.

"It's getting late, I should probably be getting home." Dom nodded and stood up again. He looked around the kitchen and stepped closer to her. "Call me if you need anything, okay?" He nodded. "Maybe you could talk to Gen for me?"

"Probably not." She nodded a little. "You need to talk to her yourself."

"She doesn't want to talk to me, Dom."

"I wonder why, Letty." She sighed heavily and shook her head. She walked out of the kitchen and Dom shook his head when he heard the front door close. Not even a minute passed before he heard an engine rev and peel off down the street. He walked to the fridge and grabbed another beer and sat back down at the kitchen table.


	9. Nine

After what seemed like an hour, Gen reached the door she'd set out for. She knew that it would take a long time but she didn't know it would take that long. After all, with Mark speeding back to her house it only took about 5 minutes. She'd figured it would take about 30 minutes to walk, if she walked fast. No, it took at least an hour.

"Gen?" A female voice from the driveway asked. "Sweetheart, I thought you left earlier with that young man. What are you still doing here, do you need a ride home?" Gen watched as the woman approached.

"No thank you, Jordan. I'm here to talk to Kate. Um… do you know if she's home?"

"Ah, well… she'd better be home. She didn't want to go out with her brother and me to lunch and I grounded her for having a party last night. A party where there was alcohol and wasn't supervised by an adult. A mature and responsible adult."

"How did you know?"

"Half of my liquor is gone. Plus the neighbor called a little after you left this morning and reported to me that there was a lot of traffic around here. Also, the fact that you were in her bedroom when I got home this morning and there was also a boy in the closet."

"Oh, well, if it makes you feel any better, all we did, the boy and I, was sleep. We just started going out and we weren't ready for that." Gen paused. "Plus, I have a daughter… I'm not exactly prepared for another child quite yet."

"You don't look it." Gen chuckled and nodded. "Plus you're so young. How old are you now? Fifteen? Sixteen?"

"I'm seventeen."

"That's still young." She took a deep breath. "Come on in. I'll get you something to drink." Jordan pushed the door open to find Kate on the floor, on top of some guy, kissing him. She was only wearing a bra and a pair of tight-fitting jeans.

They didn't even look up when the door opened. But they both jumped up when Jordan cleared her throat and Gen stepped inside the house behind her. Kate's eyes met Gen's but it wasn't until the guy stood up and patted himself off that Gen's eyes turned to an evil glare. Gen's jaw clenched when her eyes met the guy's. Jordan, in a quick movement, stepped between the guy and Gen, facing Gen, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Son, I think you'd better get out of here." Jordan warned the boy. He nodded and was out the door in a flash. Gen looked over her shoulder to see him in his car, peeling away. She sighed heavily and looked at Kate, who was smirking. Gen shook her head and turned to leave the house. Jordan has realized what happened, but didn't want to interfere with the teenaged drama. "Gen, let me give you a ride home."

"No thanks. I'll walk." Jordan nodded and sighed as she watched Gen start in the opposite direction from which she came. Gen couldn't believe what she'd just seen. She didn't want to think about it. She just wanted to go home and cry. Scratch that, she didn't want to cry she wanted to scream, so she did.

"Sonofabitch!" It was all scrunched together, which made it sound like one word. She didn't care; she didn't care what it sounded like or who heard it.

"Gen?" Her attention turned to a park, which looked empty, except for a lone swinger. Gen recognized the face and started the approach. She took a seat on the swing beside her with a loud sigh. "Hey." Gen was quiet. "I'm sorry for being a bitch to you about the money. I needed it, you knew that." Gen nodded. "I mean… I expected you to help me find a job or something, not that. That's why I smacked you when we hid in that garage."

"Don't worry about it Juli." They were both quiet for a few minutes. "So, are you still going to go through with that?"

"I have to." She looked at Gen. "I mean, I respect you for not, but right now isn't a good time and I don't want Chris to hate me."

"Does Chris hate me?"

"No, she loves you. I'm just saying that… I don't think that path is for me. I want the easy way out and I want to finish school and go to college."

"I'm finishing school, I'm just not going to college. Sara needs me, I don't need college and I don't have the grades for it anyway." Juli nodded and for the first time Gen looked at her face, being greeted by a purpling bruise across her left cheek. "Jeez, Juli, what the hell happened to you?" Gen asked jumping up from the swing and kneeling in front of her younger cousin.

"Why did you have to leave, Gen?" Gen fought tears and stood completely, pulling Juli into a hug. Juli, being in a crappy mood already, allowed herself to cry into Gen's chest. Gen stroked the back of Juli's head and Gen felt tears forming in her own eyes. It was one thing to mess with her, but an entirely different thing to mess with her family. Gen stepped away and realized what she needed to do. Johnny needed confronted and she was the one who needed to do it. Gen turned and started sprinting toward the place she'd called home for the last seven years. "Gen, where are you going?" No answer. "Gen!" Juli jumped from the swing and started the chase to her cousin.

"He made two mistakes Juli. Two." She shouted back to her cousin. "First, he fucked with me. Second, he fucked with my little cousin. It's time for him to pay."

"Gen, no."

"Is he with Chris?"

"I can't tell you." Gen stopped and Juli almost slammed into her back. "Gen, you can't do that."

"Did he touch you?"

"What?"

"Did he touch you? Like he touched me…" Juli was quiet. "If you don't want me to kill him, Juli, then go to the police with me, now." Juli bit her lip and nodded a little.

"You won't do anything if I go with you right now?" Juli questioned quietly. Gen nodded but raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Why are you suddenly acting like you care?" Gen poked. "Because you know that he raped me, he touched you somehow, why would you defend him when he's done wrong?"

"He got me pregnant too, Gen." Gen shook her head and she sighed. "He did."

"Juli, no he didn't." Juli looked down at the street and Gen shook her head. "He's been away for about fifteen, sixteen months, there's no way he could have gotten you pregnant. If he was in jail, that's not physically possible for him."

"I went to see him."

"Juli, why would you do something so stupid?" Juli shook her head and plopped right down on the curb that they were standing near. She rested her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands, letting her eyes fill with tears. Gen sat down beside her cousin and looked a few pieces of broken glass along the curb. "Juli?"

"Remember that day I got in so much trouble with Chris skipping two days of school." Gen chuckled at the memory and nodded. "I told her that I was getting out of cutting up dead animals in Biology class and that I went with a few friends to the park and we just hung out."

"I take it, that's not what you did, did you?"

"It doesn't really matter, I mean I still got in trouble. I would have been in even more trouble if I'd told Chris what I really did."

"What did you do, Juli?" Gen questioned, expecting some evil thing she'd done.

"The night before the first day, when Chris was drunk and in the kitchen, drinking more, I went in her room and went through her phone directory. I wrote down my moms last phone number and I went to bed. I got up the next morning and pretended to go to school, I even went inside, but I left when the first bell rang. I dipped right out the front door. I walked to the carryout and used the payphone to call my mom." Gen looked at her, cocking her head to the side. "I told her who I was and she'd be happy to see me. I didn't want to see her though, I just wanted to know who my dad was."

"Did she know?" Juli nodded. "Who is he?"

"Johnny." Gen stood up quickly and Juli looked up at her with pleading eyes. "Listen." Gen nodded and put her hands on her hips and looked up the street both ways before looking down at Juli again. "I walked around, thinking, that whole afternoon. Around 2 I sat by that tree outside of school and waited for you and Eva." Gen sat back down beside her cousin and watched her as she continued.

"Then what?" Gen questioned.

"Day two, I didn't even go to school, I left early without you two, I took a bus up to where he was, because I knew without asking my mom." Juli looked down at her thumbs, which were twirling around each other. "I asked him, he said he knew." Juli looked up at Gen. Juli shook her head and wiped her eyes. "I just wanted him to like me, Gen. Was that too much to ask?" Gen shook her head and pulled Juli closer, giving her a small squeeze in hopes to make her feel better.


	10. Ten

"How nice of you to join us, Ms. Rodriguez." The teacher said quietly as he opened the door to see Gen. She handed him a small gold colored paper, he took it and read it to himself. Gen caught a glimpse of Eva and Juli sitting side-by-side arguing about a 'mistake' Juli had made on her project. She smiled and gave a small wave when Eva looked up at her.

"Gen's here." Eva said, directing the question to Juli, but was overheard by the third person at the table. Gen swallowed hard, catching the pained eyes of Juli. Gen was hurt too, but she hadn't bothered with telling anybody. Only the people there during the incident knew about it. Juli picked up a paper ball and headed for the trashcan by the door.

"Hey Gen." Juli said quietly as she dropped the paper in the trashcan. The teacher looked between the two of them and smiled at Juli. "I'll update Gen on what she's missed and explain the project to her. Okay, Mr. Sketch?" The teacher smiled and nodded at the use of his nickname. "Come on, Gen. Your _lover boy_ is waiting." Gen rolled her eyes at Juli and she chuckled. "Just come on."

"Hey Gen." Eva said with a smile. Gen's eyes wandered to Mark and when their eyes met, she sat down beside him with a heavy sigh. "What's up?" Gen shook her head and smiled when the teacher put a blank piece of white paper in front of her. It was almost as bright as a highlighter, if there were ever white highlighters.

"What are we doing in here?" Gen asked Juli grabbing a pencil out of her bag, which she dropped on the floor between her and Mark.

"Here's the paper." Mark said sliding a paper over to her. She sighed and reached for it. She picked it up and read it to herself, groaning when she found out that she'd be drawing pictures of Mark for nine weeks as a 500-point project, which would more than likely is her entire grade for the quarter.

"When did you guys start this?"

"We started last Monday." Mark stated. Gen was trying her best to fight how she really felt about Mark to save them both from embarrassment. "Maybe Mr. Sketch will give you an extra week or something. Ask him." Gen stood up and looked for the teacher, who was sitting behind a wooden desk. She walked to the desk and he smiled up at her.

"Good morning, Ms. Rodriguez. Do you have a question?" Gen shook her head and looked back at the table. "Well, if you have no question, then why aren't you starting on your project, your already a week behind."

"I'd like new partner." Her voice was louder than she'd meant it to be, causing everybody to look up at her, including Mark. His eyebrow arched and his lips created a small frown. "I can't work with Mark." The teacher rose from his seat and started walking around the room. He looked at everybody's work and nodded at a few. He took a girls pencil from her hand and made a few marks on her paper. He stopped and looked at Mark's paper then up at Gen. He made his way back to the desk and looked up at Gen.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Rodriguez. Everybody has been paired up and started on their projects. Besides, Mark's already started. Real dedication if you ask me. Genevieve, report cards come out next week, do you think you did well?" Gen nodded. Mr. Sketch, who was really Mr. Gibbie, pulled out a red folder. She looked down a list to find her name, and then followed the line over to see her grade.

"I did good."

"Could've been better."

"What?" Gen questioned. "I'm perfectly happy with a B."

"That would have been an A." Gen looked at him intently. "Too many absences."

"Sorry, I have a daughter. She gets sick a lot. Last week I was in the process of moving, things were hectic. I moved out of my aunt's house and moved in with my dad. Things have changed and I may be moving back in with my aunt." Mr. Sketch leaned back in his chair and Gen looked down at the grades again, looking at Mark's. He got an F. Did he even deserve that grade? Gen looked over her shoulder at him and he was looking down at his picture of Gen. "Mr. Sketch?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"May I go out into the hall and talk to Mark?" Mr. Sketch looked up at Mark and nodded. "Thank you sir." Mark stood up and he followed Gen out the door, closing it behind them. Gen crossed the hall and looked at Mark as she leaned against a locker. "I actually believed you when you said you liked me and you didn't like Kate that way."

"Gen.."

"I don't want to hear it. I can't believe you did that to me. I thought I'd found somebody who liked me and you've proved that wrong for me. Thanks, Mark, thanks a lot." Gen started back toward the door, which Mark was standing in front of, and he stepped in front of her. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her close to him, kissing her lips softly.

"Please, let me explain?" It was more of a question than a statement. Gen nodded. "After I dropped you off, I realized that I left something in Kate's room. It must have fallen out of my pocket when we were sleeping. So, I went back and she said her aunt wasn't home, which must have been why she was just wearing a bra and jeans. I went upstairs, got what I left and was ready to leave."

"That doesn't explain what was going on when I walked in."

"She heard you and Jordan talking outside. She said she wanted to make you jealous. Then when Jordan opened the door, she tackled me and kissed me." He paused. "Jordan saw her do it. You can ask her." Gen nodded. "Do you believe me?"

"You swear you wouldn't lie to me?" She asked looking up into his eyes.

"I swear."

"So, you really like me?" He nodded and smiled, resting her hands on her hips. "Why did you go back?"

"I wanted to talk to Kate about what I read in her journal."

"What did you read?"

"It's kind of personal. I want to talk to her about it, but I have a feeling that now we won't be so civil about it."

"Mark!" They both turned toward the voice and Mark pulled away from Gen, having just enough time to brace himself for the little girl to launch herself into his arms. "Hi."

"What are you doing here?" Mark asked the girl, bouncing her a little in his arms. He set her down when another woman appeared in his view. He smiled at her then gave her a quick hug. "What are you two doing here?"

"We're here to get you." The older one said, putting her hand on her hip. "Dad's on his way home. Mom wants you to be there." Mark raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, Mark, just come on. I'm not trying to get yelled at for not bringing you home with me."

"I can't leave. I need to stay here. I've got school."

"Oh, Mark, it's just a day." They both looked down when the little girl yawned loudly, rubbing her eyes with her fists. Gen smiled at the girl and she smiled back.

"Who are you?" She whispered up to Gen. Gen crouched down to her level with a smile. "I'm really sleepy. Mommy woke me up early this morning."

"I'm Gen. I'm Mark's girlfriend. What's your name?"

"I'm Torrie." Gen looked back up at Mark, who was still talking to the woman, until she caught sight of Gen crouched down, talking to the little girl. Gen looked up at her and smiled when she extended a hand down to her. Gen stood and shook her hand.

"I'm Leslie. You must be Gen Rodriguez." Gen nodded and smiled a little. "I've heard a lot about you, Gen." She looked over at Mark. "My brother really likes you." Gen looked at Mark and his cheeks were turning red. "He talks about you, always in a good way, all the time. It bugs the hell out of our mom."

"Why?" Leslie shrugged and looked at Mark and smiled a little.

"I see you've met Torrie. She's my daughter, my pride and joy."

"She's a cutie, Leslie." Leslie nodded and smiled at her brother.

"Is this why you want to stay here?" She asked Mark. Mark shook his head and she chuckled, nodding her head just a little. She didn't believe him, neither did Gen. Leslie looked back at Gen and smiled. "You should come over for dinner some time, I'm sure Mark would be happy to have you. If you're interested and getting to know Mark's favorite sister, I'm there Friday nights."

"That's a nice offer, but I'd have to talk to Mark about it first." Leslie nodded and looked down at her daughter and held out her hands. She walked over and Leslie picked her up and rested Torrie on her hip.

"I'll let you stay. Don't you dare get home late. 3 o'clock." Leslie looked at Gen and raised an eyebrow. "Will you help make sure he's home by 3?" Gen nodded a little and smiled. "Mom told me about you coming home at noon when you went out with her." Gen took a step forward and looked at his sister a little harder.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Gen challenged.

"Hun, nothing, chill." Leslie said calmly.

"With _her_? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I know you have a young daughter and..."

"You do too." Leslie stepped back and set Torrie down. "You were probably younger than me when you had your daughter."

"You're right." Leslie nodded. Gen clenched her fists at her side and Mark stepped up behind her. "Your so damn lucky your a minor."

"Why's that? You want to hit me?" Gen tested. Leslie chuckled and raised an eyebrow.

"Mommy!" Torrie said stomping her feet. "Let's go. I have to pee." Leslie rolled her eyes and picked Torrie up again.

"Later." Leslie said raising an eyebrow to Gen then looking back at Mark. "Three." He nodded and put his arms around Gen as Leslie walked away with Torrie in her arms. Gen turned and looked at Mark.

"Thanks for sticking up for me."

"You looked like you had everything under control." Gen sighed and looked at the floor then pushed past Mark but stopped when she heard somebody laughing from up the hallway. She turned and peaked her head up the hall.

"That was entertaining." The girl said walking toward Mark and Gen clapping her hands with long pauses between claps. Gen glared at her and sighed when Mark moved between the two of them. "Do you always get that defensive when people talk to you?" She asked. Gen glared harder and shook her head. "I see you believed Mark's story."

"I have no reason not to." Gen snapped back. "Why would he want to be caught kissing you anyhow? You're a ugly skanky bitch." The girl stepped back, put her hand over her chest and pretended to look hurt.

"Those words mean nothing to me, Gen." Gen was about to make her way around Mark when the door opened and Mr. Sketch stood there, watching the three of them expectantly.

"Are you two finished talking? Who are you? Why aren't you in class?"

"I'm headed back to class, don't worry." She stepped away and looked at Gen. "You are aware, that this isn't over, right?"

"I'm perfectly aware. We'll finish this after school, right?" Gen questioned. The girl watched Mark, flicking her tongue out over her lips with a grin. Gen moved in front of Mark and shoved her away. "We'll settle this after school."

"Right." Kate answered shortly before blowing a kiss to Mark and turning on her heel. She didn't even have time to blink before she was being shoved up against a locker, face first. Gen pushed her again harder then pushed her to the floor, crouched down and started hitting her repeatedly.

"Gen!" Gen heard Mark shout in her ear as he tried to pull her off of Kate. It was no use, Gen was just beyond pissed and couldn't help herself. Kate wasn't even trying to hit Gen back at this point, just trying to block her face from the heavy blows of Gen's fists.

"Genevieve Rodriguez." Mr. Sketch said slowly, tugging on Gen's arms and pulling her upright, but didn't pull her away before she could kick Kate in her stomach. Mr. Sketch looked at Mark and he nodded, grabbing each of Gen's arms and watched as Mr. Sketch helped Kate up off the floor. She leaned forward and rubbed her lip and looked at the blood on her finger. "Get in class." Mr. Sketch's eyes shifted to Gen, "I'll take you to the office later." Mark pushed Gen toward the open door and Mr. Sketch headed to the office.

"Well, that was smart, Gen." Mark said sitting her down in her chair across from Juli, who looked at her with a confused look.

"What happened? Where'd Mr. Sketch go, I need to ask him a question." Juli asked looking at Mark.

"He took Kate to the office. Gen beat her ass." Juli and Eva both chuckled and looked around the class, the girls by the door were laughing about it, it was obvious.

"YES!" Juli and Eva cheered together. "I hated that bitch." Juli added with a laugh. "How bad did you beat her?" Juli was trying her best to sound serious, but she couldn't stifle the laugh.

"Pretty bad." Mark chuckled. Gen nodded and looked down at her blank paper. Now how was she going to finish the assignment if she would be suspended for two weeks? She nodded to herself and started to roll up the paper. She stood up and walked over to a cabinet and started going through some shelves. She grabbed a box of oil pastels and checked to make sure there were enough colors and headed back to her table. "Is that what your using for your medium?"

"Did he say to use something specific?" Gen asked before slipping the box into her bag. Mark shook his head and smiled a little. Mark looked down at his paper and moved his pencil across it. "Mark?" Gen asked. He looked up at her. "Are you mad at me?" He shook his head and she nodded a little.

"No. I may think you had over reacted, but that's it. She's been messing with you for a while now, she deserved all of it. Maybe even more. Just glad she didn't get you."

"She didn't have a chance to." Mark nodded and looked down at his paper then up at Gen again. He gave her a small smile then went back to his paper. She nodded and watched him work on it so quietly.

He was such a perfectionist, which is why he had gotten the grade he had for the last quarter. He would take forever on the rough draft of the assignment before even starting the final draft, which is why he hated this class, but liked it all the same. Gen watched him as he carefully made marks on his paper, forming her face slowly. Gen smiled and lost herself in his vision of her.

"Genevieve Rodriguez?" Gen looked up toward the door to see an administrator with a walkie-talkie standing there. She swallowed and stood up, picking her bag up off the floor and putting it over her shoulder and heading toward the door. Gen watched the girls at the table by the door as she passed and one of them gave her thumbs up when the administrator wasn't looking. "We've already called your father, he's on his way here." She sighed heavily and followed the lady into the office, where Kate was sitting with a bag of ice to her lip. "Have a seat."

"Yes ma'am." Gen sat down across from Kate and sighed, looking around the office. This wouldn't be the first time she's been in here. The last time she was in here, was because some girl tried to feel on her in the bathroom and she'd slammed that girls head into the bathroom sink. Instead of the usual suspension for that, they wanted her to be put in a detention center for assault. But it didn't work out that way, she'd been forced to clean up all the blood and be suspended for two weeks.

"Gen?" She heard from the door. It was her dad. She looked back down quickly and sighed when he stepped up the desk, where there was a secretary sitting tapping on her keyboard noisily.

"Right this way, Mr. Toretto." The secretary said standing up and leading him into the principal's office. Gen looked up at Kate and she was already looking at her. Gen just now noticed the damage she'd caused. Kate's eye was already swelled and her lip was obviously busted, plus a few scratches from her nails here and there.

"Sorry." Kate said softly keeping her eyes on Gen. "How do you think I feel?" Gen raised her eyebrow and Kate sighed. "Not the fight. Before the fight, what you read..." Gen nodded. "I mean, I was two. I didn't ask my mom to take me to my aunt's house. She took me, and she left. I haven't seen my mom in sixteen years." Gen looked down at the floor. "She wouldn't have done it if it weren't for..." Gen looked up at her. Kate's eyes were filling with tears. "I don't even care anymore. She didn't want me, I don't ever want to see her again."

"It's not my fault." Gen said rudely, trying to shift the blame from her to Kate's mom.

"How old were you?"

"Ten." Gen looked up at Kate and nodded a little. Gen stood and crossed the office, under the watchful eye of the secretary, and seated herself beside Kate. "I think it was a trap I fell right into. I mean, she was going to leave him and I wanted to go with her, not stay. She left me with my aunt and said she'd be back for me soon."

"She never came back, did she?" Gen shook her head.

"She called a little later and said that my dad would come get me, he didn't. Turns out, he didn't even know where I was. All those years... I'm almost an adult now, I am an adult. I have a kid of my own. I don't want her in my life and she's trying to be now."

"Lucky you." Gen chuckled and shook her head. She leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees and looked over her shoulder at Kate and squinted her eyes a bit.

"Why didn't you tell me, though?"

"Tell you what?"

"That you were my sister, the sister I wasn't even aware I had... but I can remember vaguely from when I was really little." Kate shook her head sadly and shrugged.

"Didn't think you'd believe me."


	11. Eleven

Gen slung her bag over her shoulder as she got out of her dad's car. Her dad gave her a warning glare and she instantly lost the smirk on her face. She couldn't help it, she was happy she'd gotten over the feud with Kate. Now that she and Kate were cool, the rest of the school year would go much more smoothly. Especially with Juli and Eva.

"You know, Gen, you're lucky." Gen nodded toward him.

"Yeah, I know." He nodded and looked over the hood of the car at her. She nodded and turned toward the sidewalk and started for the door.

"Gen." She turned and looked at him. "I gotta tell you something. Before you go in." He started around the car and up to her, following the same path. He gently put a hand on her shoulder and turned her toward the car. "I've got company. They should've been gone by the time it was ready for you to be home, but since your home early... I had them wait." Gen straightened her back. "Now, I want you to be nice."

"When am I not nice?" She thought for a minute. "Okay. So who is it?"

"Your aunt Mia. You remember her?" She nodded a little. "Alright, come on." He led her toward the door again and unlocked it, pushing it open. Gen followed him in and looked around. "Mia?"

"Dom, your back. We're in the kitchen." Gen dropped her bag at the bottom of the steps and followed him into the kitchen. There was a boy, about Gen's age, and a younger girl at the table, who looked to be about 5 or 6. A tall woman turned from the stove and smiled at Gen's dad. Gen assumed it was his sister, Mia, but couldn't recognize her no matter how hard she tried. "Melissa was hungry, so I raided your fridge. I hope you don't mind."

"No, no. That's ok." He looked over his shoulder at Gen and motioned to her. "Mia, I think you remember Genevieve." Mia set the spatula on the stove and turned completely, facing Gen.

"Oh, wow." Mia started toward Gen, but Gen didn't know what to do, so she stood, patiently. "You've really grown up." Gen nodded. "Your daughter looks just like you." Gen smiled.

"Thanks." Mia nodded.

"That's my daughter Melissa, she's 7. And that's my step-son, Michael." Gen smiled and waved at them a little. "You and Michael are the same age, I think you two might have a few things in common." Gen waved at him and smiled a little more. "Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat."

"Thanks, I'm fine." She nodded. Mia turned back toward the stove and flipped something, then turned back around.

"How's school?"

"Good." She nodded.

"She just got in trouble. Fighting. She made out lucky, one week suspension." Gen nodded and looked down at the kitchen floor.

"I got some homework I gotta work on. I'll be upstairs." They all nodded and Melissa gave her a toothy grin, making Gen chuckle a little as she turned toward the other room.

"Dom!" Mia whispered harshly to her brother. "That was rude." He walked to the fridge and grabbed a beer. He twisted the top off then sat at the table, taking a long drink. Mia sighed and flipped the grilled cheese sandwich she made for her daughter onto a plate. She grabbed a knife out of the drawer, cut it in four pieces, then dropped the plate in the sink. She slid the plate in front of Melissa and smiled at Michael. "Hungry?" He shook his head. Mia reached over, smacked Dom upside the head and snatched the bottle from his hand. "It's one in the afternoon, Dom, it's a little early for a beer."

"I'm gonna go say hi to Genevieve." They both nodded and Dom looked back to his sister. Dom and Mia both watched Michael disappear into the other room then turned back to each other.

"You haven't drank like that since Letty left you."

"Mia, shut up."

"I'm serious. Why do you feel the constant need to drink?"

"Mia, shut up."

"You deserved what she did to you. After all, you did sleep with her sister. But then you let her keep your kids away from you, and you're still her friend."

"She lives down the street. She's always lived down the street."

"Yeah, well, now that Gen's here, you need to think about Gen." He pounded his fist on the table and Melissa looked up at him.

"Uncle Dom!" She yelled at him. "Get your greasy hands off the clean table." Surprised by her comment, he moved his hand off the table and watched her eat a triangle of cheesiness off the plate.

-- -- -- -- --

Michael knocked on the open door of Gen's room. She looked up from her bed and smiled a little at him.

"Hey. Come on in." She moved off her bed and walked to her chair. She pulled it out and offered it to him. He smiled and approached the chair. "So, you're my aunt's stepson?"

"Yeah. She married my dad a few years ago." He sat down and she walked back over to her bed and sat down. "They're on the verge of a divorce now, Dom doesn't know yet." Gen frowned a little and nodded.

"Oh, that sucks." Michael nodded.

"So, do you live in Los Angeles?" He nodded. "Yeah, I've lived here all my life. Well, not here, in this house. I've lived with my aunt the past seven years."

"I heard." Gen gave a confused look. "Mia and your dad were talking about it. I overheard, well, eavesdropped."

"Oh. I'm not on good terms with my mom."

"Me either."

"What she do to you?"

"Pretty much just abandoned me when I was five. Just left me on my dads porch." Gen watched him carefully. "I cried for about an hour before her heard me. I haven't seen her since."

"My mom pretty much did the same. Took me from my dad, she warned me that I shouldn't go, but I insisted. She took me to my aunt Chris's house, where she said I'd stay for a week or so. I ended up staying seven years. I see my mom, from time to time, but I don't ever really want to have a conversation with her. So I'm sort of hoping that my dad doesn't make me sit down and talk to her. But he probably will. Because Sara is her granddaughter."

"You're daughter is cute." She nodded.

Gen ignored the phone when it rang, and just kept talking to Michael. She was nice. He wasn't like the average jock, though he played football in high school, he was nice, and honest. Gen liked those kinds of people. People who weren't afraid to wear their emotions on their sleeves. He even told her about his last ex, whom he dated for nearly 2 years and she just up and broke up with him.

"Gen!" Dom shouted from downstairs. "Telephone!" Gen stood up from her bed and walked to the door. She started down the stairs but her dad met her half way. "Keep it short." She nodded and pressed it to her ear.

"Hello?" She walked back into her room. "Hey baby." Michael chuckled and stood up. "Yeah. I got suspended for a week. Yeah, I might be going to jail if it weren't for me making up with Kate. Then if it weren't for my dad hooking up with Kate's aunt, I'd be suspended for two weeks." She laughed into the phone and glanced up at Michael. "Yeah, if it's okay with my dad, I'd love to." She nodded. "Well, I gotta get off here. I'll talk to you later. Call me after dinner or something. Bye." She hit the end button and smiled at Michael. "My boyfriend." He nodded and smiled.

"Cool."

"Yep. If my dad says I can go, do you want to go to the movies with my boyfriend and I? My two younger cousins are going too."

"Sure. Just let me know the time." She nodded and he stood up. "I should get back downstairs. I'd hate for Mia to think I'm putting a move on you." Gen chuckled and nodded.

Gen watched as Michael exited the room. She looked back down at her notebook and yawned a little. She jumped when she looked up and he was standing there again. He chuckled.

"Sorry. I just realized you have no way of reaching me." She nodded and he walked over to her. He flipped to a blank page in her notebook and scribbled. "My email address, my house phone and my cell phone."

"Thanks. I'll call you." He nodded and disappeared out of the room again. She opened her math book and sighed heavily. "I hate this shit."

-- -- -- -- --

"Gen, dinner time." Mia said, knocking on the door. She smiled a little when she found her niece curled up on her bed with a stuffed bear. She walked over and pulled a blanket off the back of the desk chair, and draped it over Gen. Gen curled into the blanket and Mia smiled. She exited the room quietly and Gen groaned. Mia stopped and turned around to find that Gen was awake.

"Mia?"

"You're awake. Dinner's done." Gen nodded and sat up.

"I'm not really hungry." Mia nodded and leaned against the door. "Can we talk?" Mia nodded and Gen patted beside her. Mia made her way over and sat beside Gen.

"What's on your mind?"

"Oh, man, lots. Do you talk to my mom anymore?"

"No. Not since she left my brother. She left him about a year after she took you to your aunts. Officially. She'd caught him cheating many, many times before. She'd leave, come back, and they'd make up again and again. They did that for years. Then they had you, and things were good for a little while. Then you're dad started cheating again. She actually took it for five years. Then she took you away, to get you away from their constant arguing and bickering. She didn't want you around that, and to think it was right. She took you away, but she came back. The fighting got worse. Then your mom caught your dad sleeping with her sister, Jordan."

"Jordan? Really? They're still together..."

"Yeah, they are, but just on a sexual level." Gen nodded. "When you're mom found out, she was so upset, and so hurt. She vowed never to tell your dad where you were. Well, even after a year, she still hadn't told him where you were. He was worried, you know?"

"I bet. I feel sorry for her. You know, for my mom."

"Really? Why?"

"My dad cheated on her. And I bet she loved him, more than anything. Which is probably why she didn't want to leave, because her love for him." Mia arched an eyebrow and nodded a little.

"I see where you're going with this. You know, your mom was a nice woman. Sure, she had some bitchy moments, but she was nice. She loved your dad with everything, she still does, she's still stuck on him, she's still hurt."

"I see where this is going."

"She's hurt that you won't talk to her now. She doesn't know how to approach you, especially after so long."

"So I should talk to her, right?" Mia nodded a little and Gen shook her head. "No, she blew it. It's her fault I hate her, hers alone. Not mine, not my aunt Jordan's, not my aunt Chris's, and not yours. So this is her problem. I can be her friend, but she needs to approach me on that level, not anybody else. And I'm sorry, I can't look up to her as a mom, because moms are there for their kids. She was never there."

"I understand that completely."

-- -- -- -- --

**I'm back at least for now. I am so sorry for leaving this story off where I did and how I did. I'll try and make it up to you, and I'll do a double post soon. Instead of going to sleep and getting my rest for tomorrow, I'll start on the next chapter. Sorry if the transition is terrible, it's hard to take a yearlong break then get back into a story. I don't have school all next week, because the underclassmen are taking graduation tests (to prove they know what they need to know), which I passed the first time around. I'll write a bit then, if I can. And this weekend too. But if anybody is still reading this, let me know what you think of this chapter. If it's as bad as I think, or if I'm wrong. I'll get back to my usual self soon, I hope. Thanks for the patience and sorry for any inconvenience. **


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